Aces and Eights
by MuckyShroom
Summary: Ashleigh is on a mission to find the truth, and she's going to have to find it fast, before her two families go to war. First sequel to Your Past Is Always Behind You.
1. Chapter 1

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 1: **

He was deafened by the sound of his own panting breaths as thundering mortar rounds exploded around them and bullets whizzed past. . This surely had to be one of the seven circles of hell he thought as he kept his position, M16 raised and braced against his shoulder, eyes scanning constantly, covering the RO. They were jammed against a low wall which provided meagre shelter from the fire directed at them from buildings on four sides. There was no way they were getting out of here in one piece if someone didn't send a damn chopper soon or OK the airstrike that they'd needed five minutes ago.

What was left of one of his buddies had been scattered across the street by the blast of the IED that had detonated when he stepped on it. The explosion had triggered the fire-fight. He kept his eyes up, couldn't let himself think about that now, the family back home, the affect it would have on the Unit. He let off a short burst, aiming at the black hole of a doorway across the street that seemed to have a constant stream of bullets spitting from it. The radio crackled into life. The RO had to yell to make himself heard trough the chaos. "Base. This is Delta Foxtrot Charlie two zero zero requesting immediate evac. We are taking enemy fire. Repeat we are taking enemy fire. Request immediate evac."

That was the last thing he heard before the darkness claimed him.

-o0o-

His life was flashing before his eyes, except he couldn't see anything. He could only hear the voices.

"You'll like kindergarten Adam there's lots of toys and a sandpit. Look there's Ashleigh, why don't you run over and play with her."

Hold the ball like that son, that's right, now pull your arm back, and throw. That's my boy! Good throw Adam!"

"Hands off the damn cookies."

"Come on son, don't tell your Ma but it's time I taught you to ride a real bike."

"Adam, come here baby. Sit down honey. Adam your daddy's gone away. He's goin' to be gone for a long time."

"Mrs Donovan your son has been spending more time fighting than learning all term. If this carries on we'll have no choice but to expel him. I understand it's difficult with his father…."

"Ain't it s'posed to hurt the first time?"

"Congratulations. You're in the Navy now."

"You wanna be a Marine? You gotta push yourself you pussy!"

"Delta Unit, you ship out next week."

"Come back to me Adam. Come home safe."

The darkness claimed him for its own again.

-o0o-

When he could hear again, the voices weren't from his past. They seemed to be right next to him, but he still couldn't see. They faded in and out like a bad radio signal.

"Mortar round….injuries to his head…some damage…coma….swelling…under control now….behaviour may change…balance...weakness in limbs….difficulty walking ….severe headaches… signs are good."

Then the darkness returned to swallow him for what seemed like an eternity.


	2. Chapter 2

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 2:**

Ashleigh manoeuvred her Audi R8 around the sparse traffic on the dark road, enjoying the purr of the engine and the smooth feeling of the car gliding over the black top. Although there wasn't such a thing as being late for the after-Church parties, she wanted to get to the club house before everyone was too drunk or too deep in pussy to say 'hi'. She'd been away for two weeks and missed her chaotic family. Not that Paraguay wasn't nice at this time of year, but after spending over a week tailing her target before spending two days getting to know him in ways that were usually reserved for surgical staff, she wanted to reconnect with her humanity, and Friday night at the clubhouse was the perfect solution.

She loved her job, from the assassinations to the scene clearance, but there was a special place in her heart for the intelligence gathering aspect of her work. She loved the feeling of accomplishment when she got the target to reveal whatever information she'd been tasked to get. She loved the precision of the process, the skill required to start with the small pain and work up, the challenge of keeping them conscious and alive until she was finished. She was well aware though that making the effort to keep balance in her life was worthwhile, otherwise she'd sink into a black hole of blood and gore that would result in her family seeking her out and putting her down like a rabid dog, if someone else didn't get to her first. After two days exploiting the fragility of the human body she was ready for the robust celebration of all life's excesses.

She spotted the familiar turn off and guided the car down the unlit road that led to the small ranch house which was the Lone Star MC base. After about ten minutes she saw the familiar warm and welcoming lights of the club house. She felt her heart lift at the feeling of belonging, of being home. Ashleigh parked her baby out of the way of the entrance gate and on the opposite side of the dusty space to the row of black Harley's that glinted in her headlights. Sliding gracefully out of the car she ran her fingers roughly though her long dark brown hair and shook it out, adjusted her dark blue jeans and smoothed her hands over her crimson lycra top. It looked conservative from the front with long sleeves and a high neckline, even though it clung to every curve she had. The reverse of the top had been cut away leaving her back almost completely bare except for the cascade of stars tattooed over one shoulder blade. If she hadn't been four years shy of thirty she'd have been worried about her dad shitting a brick when he saw her outfit. The thought that he probably still would made her chuckle to herself.

She slipped in through the heavy wooden doors, not wanting to make a grand entrance. It wasn't her style anyway, but she'd been taught to stay low on the radar. She looked around at the party in full swing, the vintage Wurlitzer jukebox in the corner turned up to maximum volume. The room was heaving with club members, old ladies and sweetbutts. Two prospects were working the bar which was situated along the wall on her right. They were desperately trying to keep up with the amount everyone was drinking. She stayed by the door for a moment to appreciate the wheaty smell of beer and the sharp tang of whisky complemented by the mustiness of the sawdust on the wooden floor. The various perfumes worn by the women competed with the spicy aftershaves of the men and all of the scents barely masked the musky smell of human bodies. Ashleigh took in a deep breath, she was home.

She glanced around the room, picking out friends and family. She spotted her father over by the bar and made her way over to greet the president of the Lone Star MC before anyone else, as was right and proper. She noticed that he was talking to a man she hadn't seen in the clubhouse before. He was easily over six foot and obviously muscled. Even though her father wasn't a small man by any means, this new addition seemed to dwarf him. He had a shaved head and possibly the blackest eyes she'd seen outside of Somalia. Her father had his back to her, so the stranger saw her first. Her father could tell that his friend was no longer paying attention to the conversation, but when he turned round his look of irritation was replaced with a wide smile.

"Baby bird, you're home!" Samuel Carter held his arms out to bring his daughter into a hug.

"Hey Daddy. It's good to be back." She stepped into his arms and hugged him back tightly, letting him know just how happy she was to be back.

Samuel let her straighten up and step back, fighting the urge to keep his arm around her shoulders as he used to do when she was a teenager, as a sign of his protection. He had to keep reminding himself that his daughter could handle herself now and had to be allowed to do so.

"How was South America darlin'?"

"Warm, green, wet and successful." She answered with a grin.

"That's m'girl! Ash, this is Happy, he's nomad, staying here tonight on his way through. Hap, this is Ashleigh, my little girl."

Ashleigh just about managed to keep her face straight during the introduction, knowing she'd always be stuck at age six as far as her father was concerned. Although the nomad had a slight grin playing over his lips, she didn't doubt for one minute that he spent more time looking like a pissed off, hard-ass than one of the seven dwarves. The deep twin grooves etched between his eyebrows gave it away.

"Pleased to meet you." Ashleigh inclined her head. This guy was not the kind to shake hands.

"Likewise." His voice was low and roughened by cigarettes and alcohol.

Ashleigh stifled a chuckle; he obviously wasn't the sort to talk much either, but as she met his dark gaze the urge to laugh died. For a second she felt as though the ground had given way at her feet leaving her in freefall. She knew her face wasn't giving her away because it never did, but she decided to retreat before her mask slipped.

"I'm going to find Ma an'all." She smiled at her father and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "See y'all in a bit." She turned and started across the room to the table she'd seen her mother sitting at. She was about to take a deep breath to try and persuade her heart to start beating again when she heard her father choke on his mouthful of beer as he saw the back, or lack thereof, of her top; causing her to laugh out loud instead.

Happy watched her saunter across the room and admired the way the muscles in her exposed back moved sinuously as she walked. The stars tattooed on her back seemed to dance. He rarely saw a woman who managed to pack such an obvious amount of strength without looking butch or too lean. That girl had curves in all the right places and if those glinting blue eyes were anything to go by, he was certain she'd be a wild ride. He took a swig of his beer thinking he better get his thoughts on a straighter track. Son or not, getting caught eyeballing the president's daughter would not be a good move.

"Baby, you're back!" Moira Carter jumped up from her seat, pushed her way through the crowd to her daughter and threw her arms around her, holding her tightly. Ashleigh hugged her mother back knowing that her Ma always worried about her when she was on a job, especially outside the US.

"Hey Ma. It's good to be home." Ashleigh murmured.

Moira pulled back without letting go of Ashleigh. "You look good baby. It all go OK?"

"Of course." Ashleigh responded with mock offence.

Moira turned and guided her daughter to a free seat at the table, catching the attention of a passing sweetbutt as she did so and instructing her to fetch a beer for her daughter.

"Hey Dolly. Hey Annelle." Ashleigh hugged her mother's two best friends before sitting down. "Thanks" she smiled at the sweetbutt as she set a bottle of Corona in front of her.

"You was gone a while honey, but you sure did pick a good night to come home." Dolly nodded over Ashleigh's shoulder towards the bar with a mischievous grin on her face. Ashleigh didn't need to turn around and look to know that Dolly was referring to the nomad.

"Now Dolly, don't you dare go breaking my Uncle Terry's heart." Ashleigh teased.

"Darlin' I am sure I'm almost old enough to be that boy's mother." Dolly grinned back.

"I don't know." Annelle glanced over at the bar and turned back to the group with a shudder. "There's somethin' about him. Every time I look at him I feel like someone's walkin' over my grave."

Ashleigh wasn't about to disagree that there was something deeply affecting about the tall biker; but she was saved from having to answer by her mother starting to fill her in on all the club gossip that she'd missed.

After a while, Ashleigh had had her fill of the news of who was screwing or wanted to screw who, which sweetbutts had been stepping out of line or that between them Moira, Dolly and Annelle had just about cleaned out every store in Houston on their last shopping trip.

"I'm goin' to go and say hi to a few of the boys Ma." Ashleigh stood up and caught Dolly winking at her shortly before she turned to head back to the bar.

"Baby you done lost half your top." Her mother called after her. Ashleigh looked over her shoulder to see her mother sporting a wide grin and saluting her with her bottle.

Ashleigh picked up the fresh bottle that the prospect had put on the bar when he saw her walking over. "Thanks Del." She smiled and nodded before walking quietly over to a group of three men.

"Hey Dizz, ya miss me?" She stood behind a tall rangy blond wearing a Stetson.

Dizzy tuned enough to sling his arm around Ashleigh pulling her into his side. "Hey there Tinker Bell." He said as he dropped a kiss onto the top of her head. "It's good to see you back in one piece." She hadn't surprised him; he'd seen her when she'd greeted her father.

"It's about time ya got back Tink, what took ya so long?" Crash was sporting his wide smile and as always was exuding the nervous energy that made you think that at any moment he was going to take off and run three laps of the room. He was rubbing his shaved head, another nervous tick, running his hand over and over the scars that were scattered over half of his skull.

"Ya know damn well the girl takes pride in her work." Terry interjected on Ashleigh's behalf. "Ya damn near finished your old Pa with that outfit you're almost wearin'." Terry scolded Ashleigh, looking at her from under his bushy grey eyebrows.

Ashleigh shrugged, she'd be damned if she was going to start defending her wardrobe choices. The spot between her shoulder blades started to twitch, a sure sign she was being watched. Resisting the urge to try and scratch the itch she looked over her shoulder to find the nomad staring at her from across the room, his face completely expressionless.

"What do you guys make of the nomad?" She asked, trying and succeeding to keep her voice casual. All the same she felt Dizzy's arm his arm which was still around her shoulders tighten slightly.

Crash was suddenly serious, never a good sign. "He's a nomad now, but he patched into the Sons of Anarchy Tacoma chapter. They call him the Tacoma Killa, but not usually to his face." Crash's grin returned. "He's got a reputation for being a ruthless son of a bitch who likes to play with knives. Y'all should get a long just fine."

"Humpf." Terry grunted. He was going to keep his opinion to himself. He didn't want to give Ashleigh any incentive to get to know the nomad better by warning her to stay away.

"I hope ya didn't forget how t'shoot pool while ya was away Tink." Crash's erratic attention had already diverted to a new topic, effectively ending the conversation.

"Didn't have much time to practice. Why, y'up for a game?" Ashleigh grinned, relieved for the diversion since Terry was still looking at her from under his eyebrows.

Dizzy let her slip out from under his arm and watched her follow Crash over to the pool table. He sighed heavily. "This is either gonna end real well, or real badly." He muttered to Terry, who just grunted in answer. Ashleigh hadn't let her poker face slip, but both men had known her since she was a baby and the fact that she'd asked about the nomad at all spoke volumes.

The party progressed as it usually did. Ashleigh watched the revelry get progressively more raucous from the side of the pool table. She could tell that Crash's attention was wandering again when he missed his shot for the third time. "Darlin' just go and tap Tina like y'know y'wanna." She smiled affectionately at him.

Crash looked up, surprised at first, but then breaking into his trademark grin. "Love ya Tink." He leant his cue against the wall and gave Ashleigh a quick squeeze before heading over to the four and half foot tall raven haired beauty that had been his sweetbutt of choice for the past couple of months.

Ashleigh turned to head back over to her mother and had to stop herself taking a step back when she found the nomad stood in front of her. She hadn't heard him approach over the chaotic noise of the party. Although she felt safe within the club house she mentally cursed the fact that her senses were deadened by the overwhelming levels of noise, smell and sound. She smiled and took the bottle of beer he was holding out for her. "You play?" She asked, determined to keep up a calm facade. She almost forgot to breathe again when she met his eyes, until he answered by putting his own bottle on the side of the table and starting to rack up. Once the table was set he chose a cue and chalked the tip. "Visitor's privilege." Ashleigh nodded at the table indicating that he could take the first shot.

He broke, sinking two balls. "Stripes." He said, quickly lining up and sinking another before missing a third.

Ashleigh walked around the table to get into position for the shot she planned to take. She was leant down, lining up her cue when he asked. "Why'd they call you Tinker Bell?"

She looked up from her cue, enjoying the way his gravely voice was sending shivers down her spine. She debated her answer but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"You ever read Barrie's original Peter and Wendy?" She was surprised when he nodded, but didn't insult him by letting it show. "You remember the fairy was a bit of a brat, very jealous of Peter? That she could only hold one emotion at a time, so whatever she was feeling wasn't balanced out?" Ashleigh looked back down and took her shot, potting the ball she'd been aiming for. She straightened up and moved towards her next shot. She looked back over at Happy. "That was me as a kid. I was a little madam. Anyone who insulted my boys," she made a small motion with her cue encompassing the room, "got my full on temper."

He pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning against when she missed her shot. "You seem to have your shit locked down now."

She watched him move around the table towards her. Her keen sense of self-preservation was screaming that this guy was danger with a capital D and should be avoided at all costs. The part of her that ran on emotion and lacked common sense in any shape or form was stamping its foot and demanding she drag him upstairs to one of the dorm rooms and get naked ASAP.

"I grew out of my brat phase. Not sure I've got my temper locked down though." She answered evenly. It wasn't fair really, regardless of his own reputation, no one would have warned him that he was dealing with a package that contained a killer and an expert torturer in addition to the president's daughter.

"I better not beat your ass too badly then." Instead of watching his shot, he caught her eyes as he sunk the ball he'd been lining up.

Ashleigh gave him a pouty grin. "Honey, you have no idea what you're gettin' yourself into."

Happy looked into her twinkling ice blue eyes and decided that his initial opinion of this woman had been spot on. It would be a monumentally stupid idea to make a move on her, but damn if he wasn't going to have the time of his life being sensible for once.


	3. Chapter 3

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 3:**

The tortured scream brought Gemma out of her house to see who the hell was destroying a perfectly good set of brake discs. She found her daughter, sat in an open convertible that gleamed and shimmered like oil on water; grinning like the cat that got the cream, poured it on the goldfish and ate the lot. Ashleigh had her chocolate brown hair tied back in a high ponytail and had pushed her mirrored sunglasses onto her forehead. She was wearing a grey Winnie the Pooh t-shirt and had one arm draped over the door of her car, the other was resting carelessly by the wrist on top of the steering wheel.

"Hey Gemma, wanna come for a ride in my new baby?"

"Darlin' where are you plannin' on puttin' the car seat in that?"

"The car seat isn't comin' anywhere near this. No way am I scraping chocolate off of these seats."

Gemma walked over to the car and ran a hand along its smooth lines. "What is it?"

"TVR Tuscan. Arrived today. Come on, I wanna share and Hap won't play out." Ashleigh pouted.

Gemma shot her a questioning look.

Ashleigh laughed. "He's as bad as me for wanting to be in control. I hate ridin' bitch; he won't get in a car if I'm drivin'."

Gemma stepped back to appreciate the fine looking machine. "Alright honey." She smiled as her daughter tapped a little tattoo of excitement on the steering wheel. "Give me a minute." Gemma blamed the crazy genes Ashleigh had inherited from her father for the fact that Ashleigh could hold together a family, take pleasure in the darker side of life and still get giddy over a car, but she had to admit that maybe her own genetic contribution hadn't been entirely innocent.

When Gemma came back out she'd tied her hair up and put her sunglasses on. She flung her leather jacket onto the completely pointless upholstery that posed as a back seat. "Let's roll."

Ashleigh laughed gleefully and pulled her aviators down. She swung the car away from the kerb as soon as Gemma had shut her door. Although she drove carefully though Charming itself, knowing that Charming PD would pay special attention to such a flashy car, once she hit the edge of the town she let rip.

An hour later and Gemma had a fine understanding of just why Happy would not let his wife drive if he was in the vehicle. She wasn't a bad driver, far from it, but she liked to drive fast and had pushed her new toy to its limit, somewhere just below the two hundred mile an hour mark. The car handled beautifully; although Gemma thought she might be a little deaf from the loud roar of the engine. This car did not know the meaning of the word 'discreet'.

They'd reached a town but Gemma had no idea where they were because she hadn't been able to read the road signs and no longer had any concept of distance thanks at the speed they'd been travelling. She had a feeling they might actually have crossed state lines and be somewhere in Nevada.

"I'm starving. You want some lunch?" Ashleigh glanced over at Gemma.

"Yeah, and I think I need to feel solid ground again."

Ashleigh swung the car into a parking spot in front of a diner. She stroked the steering wheel before she got out murmuring "Well done baby."

Gemma shook her head at the woman's obvious love affair with the vehicle.

They walked into the diner, turning a few heads in the process. Most of the men stopped eating to watch the two tall, confident, dark-haired women as they sauntered across to a free booth and slid into the seats.

"So how's my granddaughter today?" Gemma asked once they'd ordered.

Ashleigh sat back. "She's at nursery. She won't be pleased that she missed this. She likes how her momma drives." Ashleigh grinned. "Hap went mad when he found me in a lot on the edge of town doin' doughnuts with her in the Merc, but Rosie was lovin' every minute."

Gemma grinned and shook her head again. She was enjoying having her headstrong daughter and her equally headstrong granddaughter around. The fact that they both kept the Killa well on his toes just added to the fun. Ashleigh was the product of a youthful impetuous moment with her then best friend Alex 'Tig' Trager; that Gemma had given up for adoption since she had only just turned seventeen. Given that Tig was a longstanding member of the Sons of Anarchy MC, who's president was Gemma's son, and also best friend to Gemma's estranged husband and ex-president of the MC, Clay Morrow; there had been some concern as to the effect Ashleigh's arrival in town would have, especially as it turned out that she had a young daughter with Happy, the club's go-to guy for anything related to death or pain. However, after an eventful start things seemed to have settled down well. It helped that, having been brought up in the Lone Star MC in Texas, Ashleigh knew how to follow club etiquette, and did, most of the time.

When their order arrived Ashleigh pulled her plate of chicken sandwich and fries towards her ready to dive in, but suddenly pushed it away again and pulled a face of disgust. "Eurgh, the mayo on that sandwich is off or something."

"Here let me see." Gemma pulled the plate towards her and sniffed. "It smells fine honey."

Ashleigh reclaimed her plate, sniffed again and put her hand to her mouth. "No, there is definitely something not right with that. It's OK, I'll get the chilli instead." She said as she signalled for the waitress. Once her new order arrived Ashleigh dived in like she hadn't eaten for a week.

Gemma chewed her own sandwich thoughtfully, watching her daughter carefully as she ate. "How are you goin' on house breakin' your old man?"

Ashleigh finished her mouthful of chilli. "Not too bad. That freaky thing he has about everything being tidy hasn't got me pullin' my gun on him yet….. I stress the 'yet'." She took a sip of her Coke. "Rosie's lovin' havin' him around all the time. For a while she did absolutely anythin' he told her too without any tantrums, but I think the honeymoon is over now. He told her to put away some of her toys yesterday and she threw a stuffed bunny at him, hit him right in the head. I don't know how I didn't end up rollin' round on the floor laughin'."

Gemma couldn't help laughing out loud at the mental image of Happy having something thrown at him, especially a fluffy toy, and not being able to handle his almost three year old daughter the way he would anyone else who disrespected him. "What're you plannin' on doin' with all those spare rooms you got?"

Ashleigh arched an eyebrow knowing very well what Gemma was getting at. "You ever get introduced to subtlety? You got three grandkids to be goin' on with." She shook her head. "I got one set up as my office. The other's just full of crap I haven't around to sorting out yet." She pushed her empty bowl away. "You heard anythin' from Clay lately?" She asked seriously.

"Last I heard he was neck deep in pussy in Indian Hills." Gemma shrugged. "If I didn't know better I'd say he was avoiding Charming."

Ashleigh had known exactly where Clay was. Her half-brother Jax, president of SAMCRO had cleared her to kill Clay after he'd sold the club out twice. He'd given the Niners information on a gun run that the Sons had been doing for the Real IRA and a drug run for the Galindo cartel. The idea had been for Jax to die in an ambush so that Clay could reclaim the presidency of the MC, at which point he would hand Tig over to the Niners' leader Laroy, since Tig had accidentally killed Laroy's girlfriend.

Jax had filled Ashleigh in on the long and complicated story that had resulted in Clay being relegated to unseated member of the club and Tig making it onto the Niners' list of most wanted over a bottle tequila one night. His only stipulation when he'd asked Ashleigh to take care of Clay was that she make it look like an accident for Gemma's sake and to cause as little disruption within the club as possible. He couldn't have a loose cannon running around, but taking out one of the Original Nine was a big deal. Ashleigh had been carefully planning Clay's demise, trying to ensure that whatever she set up wouldn't affect any innocent bystanders, when he'd left town. Not that leaving town was going to save him. Jax had asked Jury to let him know when Clay started making noises about returning to Charming. Ashleigh was going to arrange a surprise for Clay on the long and empty road home.

"Come on." Ashleigh signalled a waitress for their bill. "You can drive us back, but we need to swap before we get to Charming. Hap'll be pissed if he finds out I let you loose with my new toy when I won't let him play with her."

"Takin' a chance there aren't you baby? Some people, your brother bein' one, don't like the way I drive." Gemma was astonished that Ashleigh would even consider relinquishing the keys to her baby so soon.

"You look like you could do with cheerin' up, and that car is guaranteed to turn you sunny side up." Ashleigh pushed the keys across the table to Gemma and slipped out of her seat, leaving the money to cover lunch on the table.

Gemma smiled and grabbed the keys before Ashleigh could change her mind.


	4. Chapter 4

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 4:**

Ashleigh swerved the TVR into the parking lot at the Teller-Morrow garage and parked it in one smooth movement. The sound of the engine and the brakes brought several of the Sons out from wherever they'd been to take a look at the car. Happy emerged from the garage wiping his hands on a rag and smirking at Gemma. "She got to you then?"

"Yeah, I can't think why you won't go for a ride with her." Happy laughed at Gemma's sarcasm.

"I would, but she won't let me drive it." He smiled as Ashleigh sauntered over and stretched up to kiss him.

"Don't even think about stealin' the keys baby. I'll be upset if you do." She said slipping her arms around his waist.

Tig had appeared from the club house and was running his hand over the bonnet about to ask his daughter if he could take a look at the engine. He caught Happy's eye and winked. A plan was born. Ashleigh caught the look between her father and her husband and made a mental note to hide the keys in her safe.

Jax rocked back on his heels with his arms crossed. "Bit flashy ain't it?" He teased Ashleigh. "Won't do you much good when Ma takes you on the store run."

"This li'l sweetie is for entertainment only honey." Ashleigh wasn't rising to the bait.

Everyone turned to the entrance of the lot when they heard the growl of a Harley engine approaching. The bike skidded into the lot at an unusually fast speed which immediately had everyone on their guard. In the split seconds that followed Ashleigh registered that she recognised the bike and wondered why the rider had covered his face with a bandana. It was Happy that spotted the rider reaching under his leather cut for the small semi-automatic and yelled "Down! Now!" Pushing Ashleigh in front of him he grabbed Gemma's arm and dragged her down too. He raised his head to check that Jax and Tig and dived for cover too as the bullets sprayed over their heads. The tires of the bike squealed in protest as the rider swung the bike round in an arc and back out of the lot.

Tig, Happy and Jax jumped up. After checking that Ashleigh and Gemma were unhurt they sprinted over to their bikes. "Stay here and get inside the club house!" Tig yelled the order as the three rode off after their attacker.

"You OK Gem?" Ashleigh asked looking at the older woman with concern whilst the both brushed themselves down.

"Don't worry about me baby, it'll take than that to put me on my ass." Gemma eyed Ashleigh carefully, watching to see if she'd really escaped unscathed. "Come on; better do as your daddy says until they catch up with that dead man riding."

Ashleigh patted her jeans pocket to check that she had her phone as they walked quickly into the club house. Gemma flicked some lights on to dispel the gloomy half light that seeped in though the heavily curtained windows and went over to the bar to set up two glasses and a bottle of whisky. Gemma watched Ashleigh pull her phone out and start scrolling for a number. She narrowed her eyes at the bottle and paused for a moment before pouring two drinks, downing hers and refilling it immediately.

"Come on baby pick up." Ashleigh muttered talking to herself as she paced and stared at the ceiling.

Gemma was about to wonder out loud why Ashleigh would be trying to ring Happy at that particular moment until she continued taking to herself.

"Come on Crash you fucker, answer your damn phone." Ashleigh cut the call and redialled. She tried another two times, obviously letting the phone ring out to the answer machine before redialling. Eventually she left a message, her Texas accent thickened with worry.

"Crash, where the fuck are ya honey? You ain't answering your damn phone. Baby it's Ashleigh, call me the instant ya pick this up."

"Something you wanna share sweetheart?" Gemma asked holding out a glass of whisky to Ashleigh as she approached the bar shoving her phone back into her pocket.

"I recognised the bike. It was Crash's, but that sure as shit wasn't him riding it." She accepted the drink and downed it one.

Gemma's phone rang startling both of them. She flipped it open. "You OK baby? Good. Right, we'll be here."

"That was Jax." She said turning to Ashleigh. "They've found the bike but not the rider. He's called Opie to come and get the tow so they can bring it back in."

Ashleigh just pushed her glass back towards the whisky bottle in answer. Gemma refilled it and decided against questioning Ashleigh any further until the boys got back. Ashleigh was perched on one of the bar stools, resting her elbows on the bar and twisting her fingers with anxiety. Gemma had probably seen Ashleigh show more emotion than anyone else in Charming, but she couldn't honestly say she'd ever seen her afraid. Gemma was apprehensive herself. One the face of the situation it looked like a member of the Lone Star MC had tried to take out several member of SAMCRO, including the president.

Eventually Tig stuck his head round the clubhouse door. "Ladies, you need to see this. You especially Ash."

She took a deep breath and slid off the bar stool, the whisky putting strength into her legs that she didn't have. The two women walked out into the bright sunlight, towards the group of men stood around the black and chrome Harley.

"We found it abandoned with this on top." Happy handed a leather cut to Ashleigh. She shook it out and examined it, hoping that a miracle would occur and it would turn out to be someone else's cut, or that she'd wake up from the nightmare she was currently trapped in.

Opie was staring at the bike, eyebrows drawn in confusion, his meaty arms crossed over his chest. "This is weirdest thing. Someone obviously took care of this machine. They've kept up the paint job but it's got dents in it all over."

Ashleigh was running her fingers over the leather of the cut examining scars in the leather in between the patches. She looked up at Happy. He was unnerved to see the fear and confusion written all over her face.

"It wasn't him Hap. You know it wasn't him." She said with quiet desperation.

"Hey sis, you wanna clue us in." Jax wasn't asking. She could tell he seething with anger that someone had dared to attack his club, his family and she didn't blame him one bit. "Hap said you needed to see this before he'd tell us anything."

"The bike and the cut are Crash's. Remember him?"

Jax and Tig looked at each other remembering the twitchy Lone Star brother who'd helped move Ashleigh from San Leon to Charming.

"It's his bike and his cut but that wasn't him on the bike Jax. I know it wasn't him."

"How d'ya know darlin'? He had his face covered." Tig asked gently. He knew his daughter was well aware that the shit would hit the fan royally over this.

"I've been trying to phone him but he won't answer. But it wasn't him, couldn't be him." Ashleigh sounded almost frantic.

"Sis in know you love that club 'n' all but.."

"No Jax you don't understand." She cut him off, earning her a scowl. "Crash couldn't have done that, shooting and riding at the same time, he's not physically able to."

"What do you mean baby?" Gemma asked, speaking quietly to try and calm Ashleigh down.

"Crash grew up in Lone Star like I did. His dad was a brother, but he's been in Travis County since Crash was sixteen. Crash joined the Marines out of school, but was injured on his second tour in Iraq." Ashleigh squeezed her eyes shut, remembering scenes she preferred to leave in the past.

"He came back with severe head injuries. A mortar round had exploded over his head." She opened her eyes, staring at the cut, running one finger down a particularly large scratch in the leather.

"Crash wasn't always like he is now. He couldn't use his arms and legs properly at first, it took a lot of work for him to be able to walk and ride again. His personality changed some too. He's got aggression issues now that he didn't have before and he's got the attention span of a goldfish. He didn't patch in until after he'd recovered, but he still has major problems with his balance. He's called Crash 'cause although he can ride he falls off a lot. There's no way he could ride and shoot at the same time, he'd have come off the bike."

"That explains why he doesn't bother knocking the dents out." Opie glanced back at the bike. "But if it wasn't your boy how in the hell did they get his cut as well as his bike?"

"I don't know. All I can tell you is that there is no way he could have pulled that stunt off."

"He didn't seem so fucked up when he helped move you in." Ashleigh couldn't blame Tig for being suspicious. He'd probably spent the most time with Crash that day swapping stories and reviews of strip clubs and hookers.

"Some days are better than others." Ashleigh shrugged, knowing that she was losing the battle to convince them of Crash's innocence.

"This could have been one of his good days." Jax pointed out.

"OK, never mind couldn't he _wouldn't_ have done this Jax. He might be a few shades of crazy now but he wouldn't put me in danger." Ashleigh looked Jax directly in the eyes.

"You sound awfully sure of that considering someone riding his bike and wearing his cut just did." Jax couldn't understand how Ashleigh could remain so adamant in the face of all the evidence.

Ashleigh was suddenly calm. "Jax he wouldn't have done this. I was about a hairs breadth from becoming his old lady before he got hurt."

"He might have been jealous, tipped him over the edge." Tig suggested with a shrug.

"No, that's not him." Ashleigh shook her head. "Any issues we had we worked through years ago. He wouldn't suddenly go off the deep end now."

"You said yourself he's several shades of crazy." Jax continued. He looked at Happy who wasn't showing any emotion and wondered if he'd known about this aspect of Ashleigh's past.

Happy had shut down so that he could keep his tenuous grasp on the fury that was threatening to overwhelm him. He was enraged that someone had tried to shoot his president and his old lady. It didn't make sense for it to be Crash, but whoever it was would be in a world of pain when he got his hands on them. Giving in to a destructive frenzy now wouldn't help; he needed to stay calm until they found the culprit.

Ashleigh looked up to the sky. She felt like screaming. She knew the evidence against Crash was damning but she was certain it hadn't been him on the bike.

"Look." Jax rubbed his hands over his face. "I need to put a call in to your dad. Ope, Hap, you come with me. Tig, call the others, I want them here five minutes ago. Hopefully this is just a random jealousy thing, but if its' anything bigger we need everyone on alert."

Ashleigh started following them into the club house when Jax stopped and turned. "No, you're not part of this Ash. You're Hap's old lady. Go get Rosie and stay in the house 'til this is sorted." He turned to Gemma. "Ma, can you grab Abel and Thomas and fill Tara in?"

"Sure thing baby." Gemma put her hand lightly on Ashleigh's arm. "Come on Ash darlin'. I need you to drop me back home for my car."

Happy noticed that Ashleigh had gone still as and as pale as a corpse and knew she was either going to blow up at Jax for putting her in her place or she was going to do something that was probably impulsive and dangerous.

"OK." Ashleigh whispered. Without saying anything to Happy she turned on her heel and walked over to her car, closely followed by Gemma. She was too angry to notice that it had miraculously escaped damage. Gemma decided to keep quiet for once since Ashleigh was driving. She knew that although her daughter had been brought up in an MC and was well-versed in the way clubs worked, that she was also used to holding a certain amount of status and respect thanks to her job.

As the TVR screeched out of the lot in a cloud of tyre smoke, Happy reflected that it might have been better if Ashleigh had blown up. She'd obviously chosen impulsive and dangerous instead.


	5. Chapter 5

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 5:**

As they reached the doors of the chapel, Jax waved Opie through, but turned to face Happy, preventing him from following. "Did you know about Ash's history or has this shit just been upgraded to epic cluster fuck?"

"I knew." Happy confirmed.

"Good." Jax nodded and entered the chapel, taking his seat at the head of the table.

Opie and Happy took their seats without speaking. Tig joined them, sat down and lit a cigarette. "The rest of the brothers'll be here soon. I ain't told 'em nothin', just that they needed to get their asses here double time."

Jax nodded his assent.

It didn't take long for all the seats around the table to fill with curious bikers.

Jax looked around the table at his brothers and decided to cut straight through the bullshit. "Someone pulled a drive by on the garage today."

He banged the gravel several times in an attempt to hush the shouts and questions that surged forward.

"Hey!" Chibs shouted and stared each person down until the room was quiet again.

Jax continued. "No one was hurt and, at the moment, it looks like we know who it was."

"Then why ain't the bastard here and hurtin'?" Bobby demanded.

"Because we haven't found him yet. We've only got his bike and his cut. He abandoned them on the edge of town. There were some car tracks, but it was dusty, nothing we could recognise."

"His cut? Alvarez turn on us brother?" Chibs asked.

Jax rubbed his hand over his mouth; he wasn't looking forward to revealing this next bit of information. "No, it looks like it was Crash, a brother from the Lone Star MC."

There were no shouts or questions, just an astonished hush.

"And what would he be doin' shootin' at SAMCRO?" Bobby asked.

Before Jax could answer, Chibs leaned forward. "Who exactly did he shoot at?"

Jax leaned back in his chair. "Me, Tig, Happy, Ashleigh and my mother. It could be he was aiming at Hap and Ashleigh. It turns out Ash has past history with him. But it could be something else."

"What kind o' somethin' else?" Chibs asked.

"Lone Star run guns for the Irish too, maybe they want the whole pie instead of a slice."

Chibs leaned back, thinking carefully about what Jax had said. "So we've got a bike 'n' a cut fer evidence. We've got two motives, either one would tie them in. This could be simple, but maybe no'. We could do with knowin' how he got out o' town."

Tig spoke up. "Like Jax said, it looked like he had a car waiting for him."

"So my next question is, was someone else waitin' fer the lad in the car?"

"He could have had help from his brothers." Opie added.

Chibs tapped his fingers on the table and stared down at them narrowing his eyes. "If the Lone Star are truly gunnin' fer our Irish deal, it'd be all out war. Why start like this with one shooter? Why not come out in force? It makes me think the lad is actin' on his own or there's somethin' else goin' on."

Jax was glad he'd chosen Chibs as his Sergeant-at-Arms, he was by far one of the most level headed and strategically minded of his brothers.

"What d'ye think brother?" Chibs asked Happy. "Ye've spent time with the lad?"

"He's never shown anythin' other than brotherly love to her in all the times I've seen them together." Happy responded.

"Ash is convinced it wasn't actually him on the bike. Whoever it was had their face covered. Apparently Crash was a Marine, came back from a tour in Iraq with a serious head injury before he patched into the club. She thinks the side effects stop him from being able to ride and shoot at the same time. Apparently he's not great at keeping his bike upright even when he's using both hands." Jax explained.

"What's yer take on her theory that he couldnae have done this?" Chibs turned back to Happy.

"She's right, his balance is shot to shit most of the time." Happy shrugged. "It'd be out of character for him, but who knows? Stranger shit has happened 'round here."

"We need to see what their pres has to say about this." Opie stated.

Tig got up to get Jax's phone from the box outside the chapel doors without being asked and passed the handset over the table. Jax dialled Samuel's number, set the loud speaker and put the handset onto the table in front of him as it rang.

"Hello there Jackson, what can I do for you?" Samuel sounded relaxed and in good cheer.

"Samuel. We've got a situation brewin' here in Charming. Just to let you know you're on speaker."

There was a short silence. "What's happened?"

"We had someone pull a drive by on our garage today. Tried shooting at a few of us, including me, Happy and Ashleigh and my mother."

Silence again followed by a deep breath. "Anyone hurt?"

"No, the shooter didn't hit shit. We were able to follow pretty quick. Turns out it might have been one of your boys."

"What makes you think that?" There was a touch of anger in Samuel's voice.

"We found Crash's bike and cut abandoned on the edge of town. Can you tell me he's in Texas with you?"

Samuel gave a heavy sigh. "No I can't. He's dropped off the face of the earth, been AWOL for a couple of days now. Did my girl fill you in on his…problem?"

"Yeah."

"Then you've got to understand Jackson, it ain't unusual for the boy to take a detour now and then. But I wouldn't have said this is somethin' he'd do."

"She said they had a history. You think he could be playin' the jealous ex?"

"I think I can confidently say no. That boy has plenty of issues but jealousy when it comes to Ash ain't one of them. They moved on from that a long time ago."

"She seems to think it'd be hard for him to do something like this at all."

"She's right. He's doin' better these days, but I'd still only give him fifty-fifty chance of stayin' on the bike of he only had one hand on the handle bars."

"That's not exactly convincing."

"Jackson we will go out and find that boy. If he's done this thing we will hand you his head on a platter. This is not somethin' that has come from the club."

"Ash told us you run guns for the Irish too. We gotta think you might be tryin' to push up on us."

There was no doubting the anger in Samuel's voice. "That is absolutely not the case. We've been easin' along side-by-side for a while now. We're happy with the status quo. We ain't got no desire to muscle in on business two states over."

"You know we'll be lookin' for him ourselves. I hope you haven't got any other brothers plannin' to go AWOL?"

"I guess the only way I'm gonna convince you that we're on the up here is findin' that boy so you can speak to him your ownself. We'll be back in touch if we find him first. I hope you'll return the courtesy, I would sure like to know where he's been while this was happenin'."

"Will do." Jax said and cut the call.

Jax looked at the silent phone for a moment, then over to Opie. "I want you to call Lieutenant Roosevelt. Let's turn the bike over to him so he can do whatever CSI bullshit he can on it. That should give us somewhere to start." He turned to Happy. "Hap, I wanna swing by your place and see if Ash can give us any idea of where we might find Crash or give us any intel on anyone he knows outside the club." Happy nodded. Jax turned to Juice. "Juice, I want background on Crash and every other member of that charter. I want to know exactly who we're dealing with." Juice nodded. "I'm on it."

Jax leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and steepling his fingers. "It didn't sound like Samuel was playin' us, but I don't want to take any chances."

"D'ya think the Niners could have anythin' t'do with this?" Bobby asked.

"You'd think after the last couple of times we tangled they'd have learnt to stay the fuck away from us, and I don't see how they'd connect with Crash." Tig replied.

"Bringin' the law into this could bring the Feds tae Charming." Chibs mused aloud. "An MC war across state lines'll really get their panties in a twist."

"That's a chance we're gonna have to take." Jax sighed.

"What do you want to do about Clay?" Opie asked Jax. Jax knew that Opie had figured out that Clay had turned on his club.

"I'll call Jury, ask him to keep Clay with him. No sense in him coming back to town at the moment. From what I've heard so far he's been keepin' the girls busy up there." From Jury's reports, Jax didn't think that Clay had come up for air long enough to set something like this up.

"The most likely scenario is that Crash was acting on his own: But just in case it's something else I want the club on lockdown until he's found." He leaned back and banged the gavel to close the meeting.

As everyone stood Tig turned to Happy. "Hang on brother, d'ya know how Dizzy got his name? Have we got a Stetson wearing fruitcake to worry about?" Tig was wondering about the other Lone Star brother that he'd met when Ashleigh had moved to town.

"His last name's Disralie. Don't think he can be classed as a nut just for wearin' a Stetson."

"Not sure I agree with that." Tig muttered as he followed Happy into the clubhouse.


	6. Chapter 6

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 6:**

After dropping Gemma off at her house Ashleigh decided to risk picking Rosie up from nursery in the TVR rather than go back for her Mercedes and the car seat. She parked round the corner from the building rather than advertise what she was doing by pulling up at the front.

She walked quickly up to the building, scanning the street constantly. She didn't think for one minute that Crash had given in to a sudden and overwhelming fit of jealousy. Even if he had, she doubted that this would have been the result. Her instincts were screaming that this was something much bigger and that it wasn't over yet.

She jogged up the steps into the building and quickly found the room Rosie was in. She knocked and entered without waiting for an invitation. "Hey Sue." She addressed the young woman who was the room leader. "I need to pick Rosie up early. We got some family stuff to take care of."

"Sure thing." Sue smiled brightly and turned to the other side of the room. "Rosie." She called. "Your momma's here for you. Wash up and get your bag sweetie."

Rosie scrambled up from her spot on the floor where she'd been playing tea party with two friends. She scampered over to a sink set low on the wall by the door and quickly rinsed her hands. She grabbed her little denim jacket and her Hello Kitty backpack from the row of hooks on one side of the room and ran over to her mother.

"Hi momma, where we goin'?"

"Hey baby, I'll tell you in the car. Thanks Sue." Ashleigh waved a vague goodbye and taking hold of her daughter's hand she left the room.

As they walked out of the building she turned to look down at her little girl. "You want to ride in momma's new car honey?"

"You said I wasn't big enough yet."

"You're not really baby, but this is a special treat. You gotta promise me you'll sit real still and be a good girl."

"I will momma." Rosie was jumping up and down with excitement, especially when she found out she was allowed to sit in the front seat of the shiny new car. She wriggled in the leather seat before sitting perfectly still, not wanting to upset her mother and have the treat taken away.

"Drive fast momma." She demanded as Ashleigh slipped into the driver's seat and shut her door.

"I can't honey. You're not supposed to be in here without your car seat, remember?" She had to smile at her daughter's pout. Ashleigh took the long way round to their home, trying to stay off the main streets and out of sight of any police that might be meandering around town.

"There we go baby." Ashleigh said as she pulled up outside the house. She laughed as Rosie bounced in her seat again now that the car was parked. "We're gonna go and see Nanna for a couple of days." She told the little girl as she let them into the house. "I'll come and help you pack some things. You pick which toys you want to bring, but not too many."

"Yay!" Rosie shouted as she bounced up the stairs to her room. "I miss Nanna and Gramps."

Ashleigh chased Rose upstairs. As the little girl rushed into her own room, Ashleigh grabbed a couple of rucksacks from the top of the wardrobe in the master bedroom, threw one of them on the bed and followed Rose with the other. As Rose emptied her Hello Kitty bag onto the carpet and began the careful process of selecting which toys to fill it with, Ashleigh filled the rucksack with clothes and other things that the little girl would need to stay a few days with her grandparents.

Once she was finished Ashleigh dropped the rucksack and went into the master bedroom to pack her own bag. Jax would probably be speaking to her father at this very moment. It was going to end up being a race between the two MCs to find Crash. Ashleigh wanted to find the man before either club because she was worried they were going to shoot first and ask questions later. Or worse, turn him over to Happy. She understood why Jax had spoken to her the way he had, but it didn't make her any less angry about it. It was highly unlikely that either side would tell her when they found him before they went to work to extract the truth.

Ashleigh took her almost full rucksack into her office. She knew that Jax would be coming to her next for any information that he hadn't received from her father. She opened the safe, took her fake ID's out and put them into a side pocket of the rucksack. She also took the large stacks of cash and the credit cards that matched the false ID's. She left her guns, knives and other tools inside. It would be quicker if they took a flight to Texas rather than driving and she didn't have time to make the necessary arrangements to take her toys with her. She had a few things that she kept at her parent's house, but she'd just have to buy anything else she needed on the road. She threw the keys to the TVR into the safe and picked out an unused pre-pay that she kept there for emergencies, before locking the unit again.

Ashleigh turned to her desk to get her netbook, but instead she picked up a framed photograph. The picture of Ashleigh, Happy and Rose had been taken in Gemma's garden. She rubbed her thumb over the glass. She knew Happy would be livid with her, but she wasn't about to make him chose between her and his club. She was under no illusions; even if an interstate MC war was avoided she'd be lucky if she walked away unscathed from Happy's wrath when he found out that not only had she disobeyed a direct order from his president and taken matters into her own hands, but that she'd taken his daughter to Texas.

Blinking rapidly to keep the sudden tears at bay she put the photograph down and stuffed her netbook roughly into her rucksack. She was about to leave the phone she normally used on the desk, knowing that she'd had it long enough that Juice would probably easily be able to track it; but there was one call she had to make first.

She dialled the number from memory, wondering whether he would have changed it.

"Hello." He was suspicious as she'd expected.

"It's me."

"Ahh, I was wondering when you'd call sweetheart. It's nice to hear from you after all this time."

"Did you set Crash up?"

"What? No hello, how are you?"

"Answer my question."

He sighed. "No. I honestly had nothing to do with that."

"But you know about it?"

"Of course my dear. I know about lots of things, especially where you and the Sons are concerned. News travels fast around here; but don't ask me for details because I don't have any."

"Thank you." She hung up, not wanting to spend a moment longer than she had to on the phone to him.

Leaving the phone next to the photo she called for Rose with false brightness in her voice. "Come on honey, time to go."

She grabbed her daughter's rucksack on her way through the house, followed closely by her little girl. She quickly swapped the Mercedes in the garage for the TVR, and making sure that Rose was safely belted into her car seat, she set off for LAX, knowing that even with a five hour drive to get to there she'd get a flight quicker than at one of the smaller airports.

She put Rose's favourite Disney CD into the player to distract her daughter and to provide some noise to drown out the voice in her head which was screaming at her that she could be leaving something behind that she might not recover from losing.


	7. Chapter 7

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 7:**

Jax and Happy pulled into the empty driveway at Happy's home. The fact that there wasn't a car in it was the first thing that made them both suspicious. As Jax watched, Happy unlocked the door to the garage and pushed it open. Both men could see the TVR and double checked the street to make sure that the Mercedes really was missing.

Jax pulled out his phone.

"Ma, hi. Is Ash with you? No? Right. Thanks."

He turned to Happy. "She's not with Gemma."

Happy turned to the front door and unlocked it. They stepped into the silent house and listened to the absolute quiet.

"Shit. This don't look good brother." Jax muttered.

"Yeah," was all Happy said before heading up the stairs.

Jax followed him through the house. In Rose's room they saw the scattered mess of inconsequential bits and pieces including a sparkly pink pencil, a snow globe and a small stuffed bear in the centre of the carpet. Happy walked around the room, running his hand over blank spaces on the shelves and checking under the duvet on the bed. It was fairly easy to spot that Rose's favourite toys were missing.

Without saying a word he walked into the master bedroom. The wardrobe doors were open. Clothes were lying on the floor and dangling awkwardly on hangers where they'd been dragged out of place by someone pulling clothes out of the closet in a rush.

Jax stepped back out of the way as Happy made his way into Ashleigh's office. He unlocked the safe and opened it, noting the contents that were still in place and the items that were missing. He turned to the desk, knowing before he looked that the netbook would be missing.

Jax leant against the door. "How bad is it?"

For a moment Jax didn't think Happy was going to answer. He was just staring at a framed photograph on the desk. He answered without looking up. "She's taken Rose. Her ID's, cash and credit cards are gone. She's left her weapons and her kit, so she's flyin' out rather than take Rose on a twenty eight hour drive and she knows we can't follow her as easily if she's on a plane."

Happy picked up the photograph. "She'll take Rose to her parents. Then she'll go looking for Crash. She knows she's in the shit for goin' against both clubs and she's going to leave Rose with her parents instead of Gemma in case she doesn't make it back."

"Fuck." Jax spat.

Happy put the photograph down and picked up Ashleigh's phone. He checked the last numbers that she'd called and finding that he didn't recognise the most recent one he hit redial.

"Ashleigh, sweetheart. If you're gonna keep calling me like this I may have to get a restraining order."

"This ain't Ashleigh." Happy growled.

"Ahhhh, you must be Happy. Allow me to introduce myself. Pope, Damon Pope. I can guess why you're calling and I'll tell you what I told Ash: I had nothing to do with it. I have something much more…interesting …planned for you boys."

Happy ended the call to the sound of Pope's laughter. He turned and launched the phone against the wall, the impact breaking it into several pieces. Jax watched the display of temper impassively and waited until Happy was ready to explain.

"That was one ex I didn't know about." Happy said quietly, staring at the photograph again.

"Who was it?" Jax asked.

"Pope. Says this isn't on him. But he's got plans for us."

"Shit! I hadn't even considered that he might be in on this." Jax understood why Happy had thrown the phone. He felt like adding to the dent in the wall himself. "I think we can believe him on this. If he'd had anythin' to do with it none of us would be walkin' right now."

Jax looked at Happy who was still staring at the picture.

"His number wasn't saved into the phone. That usually means she has it memorised." Happy said in a low voice.

"We won't know what's goin' on between the two of them until we can find Ash, and to find her we need to find Crash. I need you in the game brother. Are you with us?"

Happy looked at Jax. The rage burning in Happy's eyes made Jax want to take a step back, but he didn't. "I'm with you. But I can't guarantee where my old lady's at anymore."


	8. Chapter 8

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 8:**

Ashleigh was exhausted, emotionally and physically. She parked the rental car outside her parent's house and rested her forehead on the steering wheel, fighting back tears of despair and tiredness. She knew what she was doing was for the best, but she had no idea how she was going to deal with the mess she was leaving in her wake. She rubbed her hands over her face and got out of the car. Normally being back in Texas, outside her childhood home would have filled her with a sense of peace; but nothing permeated the emptiness she felt. Ashleigh lifted a sleeping Rose out of the back seat of the car before walking up to the front door. Holding the little girl with one arm, the small head cradled against her neck, she knocked with her free hand.

Moira answered the door. "Why am I not surprised to see you here." She admonished.

"Please Ma, I need you to look after Rose for me for a while. Is Daddy here?"

"No honey, he's at the club house." Moira stepped back to allow Ashleigh to enter.

Ashleigh walked in and headed straight for the room that had been hers, that her parents had turned over to their granddaughter. She laid Rose gently down on the bed and managed to cover her with the quilt. Rose blinked sleepily. Ashleigh smoothed the little girl's curls from her forehead and whispered. "You're at Nanna and Gramps' now. I have to go away for a few days baby, but remember, mommy and daddy love you to the stars a back and we always will." She kissed her daughter on the forehead and as Rose fell back asleep Ashleigh backed quietly out of the room.

Her mother was waiting for her in the hallway. Moira turned and walked into the kitchen, Ashleigh followed.

"That sounded like a serious goodbye you just gave your little girl." Moira said, leaning back against the counter. "Are you gonna tell me where you're goin'?"

"No, its better that you don't know." Ashleigh said leaning back against the opposite counter and rubbing her hands over her face again.

"Baby, you look done in. Are you sure…?"

"I have to do this Ma. I don't know how long I'll be gone." Ashleigh pushed away from the counter. "I'm going to get some of my stuff that I left in the garage and take the bike. I've got a bag for Rose in the car. Can you get it back to the airport for me?"

"Of course." Moira followed Ashleigh as she went back through the house and outside to the rental car. "Which name did you fly under honey?" She asked as Ashleigh retrieved their bags from the boot.

"Lowman." Ashleigh replied slamming the boot shut. "He'll know this is where I was headed."

She handed one of the rucksacks and the Hello Kitty bag to Moira. "He won't come here looking for me. He can't with the way things are anyway."

She realised that Ashleigh was dangerously close to falling apart. "Did you two fight before you left baby?" She asked gently.

"No Ma: But it looks like one of my exes tried to shoot up SAMCRO and now I've taken his daughter to Texas without telling him. I haven't stayed in California like I was s'posed to and I'm gonna put myself in harm's way chasin' after said ex. Between that and a few other things he's gonna be majorly pissed at me."

"Well, when you put it like that. Your father's gonna be mighty angry at you too for what you're doin'. Your man'll come around, he just loves you too much, but you know there'll always be a place for you here." Moira hugged her daughter tightly with one arm since they were both still holding bags. "The garage is unlocked. Take what you need baby."

"Thanks Ma." Ashleigh whispered.

Ashleigh watched her mother walk back into the house before opening the door to the garage. It was empty as she'd expected. Her mother's car was parked on the driveway. Ashleigh went directly to the back of the garage and pulled the tarp off her cherry red Ducati 916. She lifted her helmet down from a hook on the wall and dusted it off before setting it on the seat of the bike.

She knelt down in front of a large box set against the back wall of the garage. She quickly entered the combination into the padlock which held the box shut, and opened the lid. She lifted the heavy, padded leather jacket that she wore when riding her bike from the top of the pile of items in the box and laid it next to the helmet. She shrugged out of the thinner leather jacket she was wearing and hung it on the hook recently vacated by the helmet.

Kneeling in front of the box again she lifted out a smaller container. She removed the Sig Sauer SP 2340 that was nestled in the foam inside. She removed the clip, checked the safety and dry fired the gun. Satisfied that it was still in class A condition she re-inserted the clip, put the safety on and placed the gun gently on the floor whilst she hunted in the box for a holster. She shrugged into her shoulder holster, glad she'd worn a t-shirt rather than a vest, and made sure the gun was firmly in position before returning to the box. She found what she was looking for and stood up, closing the lid of the box as she did so; and placed several items on top of it. She strapped a knife sheath to each forearm and slipped four small knives into their places, two on each arm, hilts towards her wrists. She put the extra clips for the Sig into her rucksack and a small flick knife in the back pocket of her jeans.

Ashleigh pulled the heavy leather jacket on and zipped it up, slinging her rucksack over both shoulders and tugging the sleeves until they were comfortable. She took a deep breath before putting her helmet on and pushing the bike out of the garage and down the driveway. Once on the street she threw her leg over the bike and kicked it into life. She'd known she could rely on her father to make sure any vehicle at his house would have a full tank of gas. She revved the engine and sped off into the night without looking back.

She wasn't headed to the clubhouse. She knew that if any of the members of Lone Star got hold of her they'd hog tie her and send her back to her old man in California, club princess or not. She knew they'd already have been through Crash's dorm room; there wouldn't be any clues left for her there. She would also put money on them already having visited Crash's mom at her apartment in town, but Crash never told his mother anything and never left any of his stuff with her so that the police could never lean on her.

Ashleigh kept to the speed limit as she guided the bike through the town, not wanting to lose any time being given a speeding ticket. Once she felt safe to do so, she pushed the bike to the upper limits of its capacity, even though it was dark on the unlit road apart from the beam of her headlights. Having passed several landmarks that she was looking for she slowed down. Eventually she saw the turning, almost completely concealed between scrubby bushes in the black night. She had to slow the bike to a crawl as she manoeuvred it along the dirt track to the trailer that was well hidden from the road.

The trailer had belonged to Crash's dad. Ashleigh was betting that many of the club members had forgotten about it in the fifteen years that Adam senior had been incarcerated. She knew that Crash came out here regularly when the buzzing in his head got too much for him to handle without giving into a fit of destructive aggression. It had been their favourite place to hook up when Crash had been in town inbetween training and tours of duty.

The trailer was in complete darkness. Ashleigh cut the bike's engine and knocked the kick stand into place, but left the headlights on so that she could see her way to the trailer. She unzipped her jacket, feeling the cool night air through her thin t-shirt as she pulled her Sig from the holster and thumbed the safety off. Holding it in a two handed grip she made her way slowly towards the trailer and up the small steps to the door.

Her heart sank when she saw that the door was ajar. She pushed it open slowly with her shoulder, scanning the murky space inside with her gun before silently and carefully stepping inside, flicking the light switch by the door as she did so.

The stale smell and the complete silence, broken only by the buzzing of flies, told her that she was alone. She looked around at the chaos of overturned and broken furniture. Although Crash was prone to vicious rages, his Marine background always kicked in eventually and he always tidied and repaired afterwards. He never left a mess like this. Keeping the gun in one hand Ashleigh walked over to the easy chair and ran her hand over the stuffing which had exploded from what must have been a bullet hole. She followed the carnage into the kitchen area and stopped, cocking her head to one side at something that struck her as highly unusual. She walked over to the laminated counter and ran her finger over several very deep grooves. They had been cut cleanly into the counter top, which told her that they had been made by a large, extremely sharp blade. They were coated in blood which had dried completely. Ashleigh knew whatever had happened here had happened hours ago. Judging by the mouldy food on the plate by the sink, she was willing to bet at least a couple of days ago.

Something caught her eye under the edge of the plate. She moved it, trying not to gag at the smell and disturbing several fat blue bottles. Underneath the lip of the plate was the tip of someone's little finger. Using a piece of kitchen towel from the roll on the holder nearby she picked up the small piece of digit. It had been removed cleanly at the first knuckle, probably by the same blade that had made the cuts in the worktop. It made sense that someone's hand had been held down on the worktop as their finger had been sliced off. She used a corner of the paper towel to rub some of the blood off the finger. The nail was cleanly cut and manicured. She breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't Crash's. His nails were always bitten to the quick.

Ashleigh put the portion of finger down and looked around again. At least two people had come for Crash. He'd put up a fight, but judging by the blood spatters on the carpet in the living area, and the fact that he was missing, he'd been overpowered and taken somewhere. There wasn't enough blood to suggest that he'd been killed here.

Ashleigh opened one of the kitchen draws, underneath the telephone attached to the wall of the trailer, and found what she was looking for. Crash kept his father's Mont Blanc fountain pen there along with a pad of paper. She took two sheets of paper and the cartridge from inside the pen over to the finger. Rubbing the blood off the pad of the finger she quickly printed it and took a photo using the camera on the unused pre-pay that she'd brought with her.

She reflected it was a damn good job she had an excellent memory for mobile numbers as she dialled.

"Hello?"

"Hey Romeo. It's Ashleigh Carter."

"Don't you mean Lowman chica?"

"I didn't know that you'd heard."

"Cariño, I'm devastated, you never sent an invitation." He laughed.

"You wouldn't be tryin' to trace this call would you?" Ashleigh smiled at Romeo's weak attempt to keep her talking.

"There are many people looking for you, your husband included."

"Did they ask you to track me?" She was going to have to move even faster if they had.

"No, I simply keep my ear to the ground." Ashleigh knew that Romeo couldn't run his operation as successfully as he did if he didn't pay attention to what was going on in the rest of the criminal fraternity.

"It doesn't matter. I won't be here much longer. I need some information though. I need to know why I'm lookin' at signs of a fight involvin' a sword and the end of someone's pinkie." Ashleigh glanced around the trailer as she spoke.

"It sounds like you are somewhere very interesting cariño."

"If I send you a picture of the print, do you think you could run it for me? Call it returnin' one of the many favours you owe me."

"Why should I do this for you chica?" Romeo asked quietly.

"Because if you don't the Galindo cartel might lose their pet MC to an interstate biker war."

Romeo laughed again. "Very well. Send me what you have. Give me a couple of hours. How do I get in touch with you?"

"You don't, I'll get in touch with you."

"I know you're in Texas chica." He said slyly.

"Lot's of people know I'm in Texas Romeo, it's the first place most of them'd look."

Ashleigh cut the call and quickly sent the picture of the print on its way. She left the phone, the piece of finger and the print she'd taken next to the blood stained sword cuts. She switched the light off and left the door slightly open as she'd found it, in case Romeo had narrowed down her location or her father remembered that the trailer existed.

She mounted her bike and swung it around, heading carefully for the main road. She was certain now that Crash had been set up, but she needed to sleep and eat. She couldn't plan her next move until she found out if Romeo could identify the owner of the stray finger.


	9. Chapter 9

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 9:**

Jax, Opie, Happy, Chibs and Tig were sat around the redwood table in the chapel. They were trying to escape the semi-organised bedlam in the rest of the club house. Bobby and the prospects were escorting Gemma and Tara to the store whilst they picked up supplies for the small army of SAMCRO family that were imprisoned in the club house on lockdown. They could hear the children laughing and yelling as Lyla desperately tried to keep them entertained and out from under everybody's feet.

A blue haze of cigarette smoke hung over the table. When Jax's phone rang the cloud swirled and twisted like a living thing as he reached forward to pick up the call.

"Samuel. I hope you've got good news for us. Hang on while I put you on speaker."

Jax hit a button on the phone and laid it on the table.

"Go ahead."

"Ashleigh's been here. She left Rosie with Moira. She didn't say anythin' about where she was headed." Jax glanced at Happy, but his face was unreadable.

"How's she travellin'?"

"Bike. She left hers here when she moved."

"Have you had any luck findin' Crash?"

"Well, see that's why I'm callin' Jackson. We checked his room here at the clubhouse an' found nothin'. We checked with the boy's mother but she didn't know shit, which we expected anyway. I have to admit though, we dropped the ball."

"What do you mean?" Jax leaned forward in his chair.

"We'd forgotten that the boy still had his daddy's trailer, 'bout forty miles east of here out in the sticks."

"Was he there?" Jax frowned.

"No he was not. He hadn't been for a few days. It looks like there's been a scuffle. There's some blood, but not enough to suggest anyone died there. Looks more like he was taken."

"Shit. This is beginnin' to look like someone's settin' us up." Jax looked at each of his brothers, who all wore equal looks of concern.

"That's what we thought. I'm sure that you boys have always got a few people tryin' to peck at your corn just like we have. I think Ash beat us to the trailer though."

"What makes you think that?" Jax asked.

"We know she's lookin' for the boy, and she'd more'n likely have known about this place. When we got here we found a piece of someone's finger, looks like a pinkie. Set up nice as you please in the kitchen are paper and ink from an old pen, that's been used to make a print. There was a pre-pay that's only had one call made from it. None received. A picture of the print has been sent to the same number as the call. It's almost like someone wanted us to know they'd been there, or they'd have cleared up after themselves. That's what makes me think it's our girl."

"Is the finger Crash's?" Opie asked.

"No, it don't look like his."

"What's the number on the phone?" Chibs asked.

"We tried ringin' it an' got a Mexican sounding gentleman called Romeo. That's all he'd tell us. Said you knew him though. That name mean anythin' to you boys?"

Jax sat back stunned. "Yeah. we know who that is. He's the head of the Galindo cartel. Why would Ashleigh be ringin' him?"

"She works with all sorts of people Jackson. She doesn't tell us a lot, but you don't carry on in her line of work for as long as she has without makin' friends in strange places. Since she's sent them a print I don't think she's pegged them for the people who took Crash. More like she was askin' for help. I'll send you some pictures of what we found so you can see for yourself."

"Send me the picture of the print as well. We'll see if our intel guy can find out who it belongs to. It might take him a while though." Jax signalled for Tig to go and find Juice.

"Of course. We'll send 'em straight over."

"How far ahead o' us is she?" Chibs asked.

"She arrived here 'bout eleven last night. Depends whether she's bothered to stop for sleep yet. If anyone'll find the boy, she will."

"I've put the word out to our charters to look out for them." Jax added.

"We've done the same."

Tig came back into the room, followed by Juice, and both took their seats.

"Someone's tryin' to get us to take each other out." Jax said.

"It sure does look that way." Samuel sighed.

"Samuel. Did Ash ever mention someone called Damon Pope?" Jax asked, ignoring the effect that the name had on Opie, Chibs, Tig and Juice. Happy seemed to be carved of stone making no movement or expression.

"No, that name don't sound familiar. Like I said, she don't say a lot about her work. After her 'n' Crash split she took a job in California an' didn't come back for two years. As far as I know she ain't hooked up with anyone but her old man since then. She was….different when she came back. It took a while for her to be right again."

"OK, I'll call if we find anythin'."

"Likewise. Tell Happy his little girl's doin' good, but she misses both her parents."

"Will do. I'll be in touch." Jax said and cut the call. He sat back and lit a cigarette, taking a long drag and exhaling slowly.

Chibs leaned forward. "Why'd ye ask about Pope? Is he behind this?"

"No." Jax said, exhaling another plume of smoke. "He's nothing to do with this."

"How do ye know?" Chibs asked quietly.

Jax turned and looked around the table. "Ash left her phone in the house. Pope was the last person she called before she left. He told us himself he didn't set this up.

"Hap, your old lady's a liability." Tig shook his head in disbelief.

"You think I don't know that." Happy growled. "Bitch inherited your crazy man."

Everyone could see that Happy was treading a fine line, close to tipping over the edge and letting his anger overwhelm him.

Chibs looked directly at Happy. "Ash is no' a daft lass. Wher'd'ye find her phone?"

"On her desk by a photo of her, Happy and Rose." Jax answered for him.

"Then she meant fer ye tae find it." Chibs was still looking at Happy. "She meant fer ye tae get that message from Pope. She meant fer those things tae be found in the trailer. She's no' workin' against us. She's no' coverin' her tracks. She's lettin' us follow her."

"Can we trust her though? She could be leading us into a trap." Opie stroked his beard thoughtfully.

Chibs shook his head. "If Ash were workin' against the club she's already had plenty o' opportunities tae take us out. She could've handed our ass's tae the Niners a couple o' times remember? And this'd mean her workin' against both her clubs. The lass might have inherited her daddy's crazy but like him she's faithful tae her family. I think she's struck out on her own 'cause she can work quicker that way."

"We'd help her if she was here." Juice said.

"Nay lad, we'd remind her she was Hap's old lady and tell her tae shut up an' help Gemma an' ye know it." Chibs said gently.

Jax ran a hand through his hair and down his face knowing he'd probably set Ashleigh on this path by doing just that after the drive by. He turned to Opie. "Ope. Can you phone Roosevelt? Ask him to put a rush on the bike. Tell him just enough of what we know so he knows we're bein' set up. He might be able to keep the Feds out of it for a while until we can find out what the hell's goin' on. I know he's a tight ass but hopefully he wants the Fibbies in town about as much as we do."

Jax's phone started to beep as the pictures from Samuel started to arrive. He scanned through them before handing his phone to Chibs.

"If that's how they found the trailer, then Samuel's right, it looks like someone snatched Crash. He's right about the phone and the finger as well, that looks like it's been set up. Juice, there's a picture of a finger print in there. I need you to see if you can find anything from it."

"I'll do my best." Juice nodded.

"The lockdown still applies until we find out who's pulling the strings." Jax looked around the table as everyone nodded their agreement.

Tig lit a cigarette and looked at Happy before looking pointedly at Jax. "Whoever's behind this might not have succeeded in settin' us against Lone Star, but they've still managed cause us a world of hurt."


	10. Chapter 10

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 10:**

Ashleigh woke up slowly. She groaned and blinked several times before stretching and sitting up. The screaming coming from downstairs that had woken her stopped abruptly, followed by two loud thuds. She was in a two room apartment that she kept in worst part of Houston. The building was crawling with junkies, dealers and whores. She kept the top floor flat knowing that few of the other residents would climb the extra two flights of stairs to bother her.

She'd decided to stay close to home and hide in plain sight, melting into the population of the busy city. She knew that none of the SAMCRO or Lone Star members, including her parents or husband, knew about this little bolt hole; one of several who's locations she kept to herself.

A sudden wave of nausea made her lean forward, cradling her head in her hands. It was a strange sensation; she felt sick but knew she wasn't going to vomit. She breathed deeply until the feeling passed. Once her stomach felt stable again she lay back down and stared at the ceiling, the dawning realisation that the feeling was familiar hit her like a punch.

She lay for a few moments longer, doing some quick mental arithmetic, before slowly climbing out of the bed and heading to the bathroom. She stripped out of her t-shirt and underwear and climbed under the shower that was little more than a trickle of luke warm water. She rinsed her hair using the cheap shampoo that she kept there before leaning her forehead against the tiles as the queasiness returned. She knew if she just kept breathing deeply and evenly it would pass quickly enough.

After drying herself and dressing she tied her damp hair into a scruffy knot. She checked she had everything she'd brought with her in her rucksack, grabbed her helmet, and headed out, locking the door to the apartment behind her. She walked carefully down the rickety stairs. Parts of the banister were missing where brawling residents had crashed through it.

Passing the rooms from which emitted shouts or groans, or sometimes a combination of both she stepped out onto the street and took a deep breath of the fresh air, untainted by the smell of urine, excrement, sweat and sex. She needed to buy a new phone and she needed to eat. Ashleigh realised she hadn't eaten since just before boarding the plane to Texas the day before.

She bought two pre-pays and a couple of other items before finding a busy coffee shop in which to have breakfast. Having placed her order and paid for it she asked for directions to the bathroom. Ashleigh shut herself in one of the stalls and extracted the pregnancy test she'd bought from her rucksack. She scanned the instructions before following them. While she waited for the test to develop she sat on the closed toilet seat and decided that one of Crash's old military sayings FUBAR, was appropriate at a time like this. She checked her watch and checked the test. Yep, fucked up beyond all recognition definitely described this situation.

She tucked the test into one of the small pockets of the rucksack before leaving the stall, washing her hands and going to see if her breakfast was ready. She didn't have time to worry about this now. She had to find Crash and then deal with the fallout from her actions so far. If she survived that, then she'd worry about being pregnant. A week ago she would have been sure that Happy would be thrilled; now she wasn't sure what his opinion would be. The coffee and bagel improved her mood slightly, but not much. She looked around at the self-absorbed morning crowd and satisfied no one was paying any particular attention to her she pulled out one of the phones and called Romeo.

"Hey Romeo, what've ya got for me?"

"Good morning to you too cariño."

"Sorry, buenos días querido. Now, what've ya got?" Ashleigh smiled knowing that Romeo wasn't truly offended.

"It seems that a Mr Daichi Karubo has carelessly misplaced part of a finger. He's linked to the Yakuza. Querida are you sure you want to take them on?" She could hear the concern in his voice.

"Not really. I hear Tokyo is nice this time of year though."

Romeo laughed. "You don't need to travel that far chica. The Yakuza provide security for the Natsuki family. The Natsuki family deal in porn. They specialise in hardcore and illegal, particularly paedophilia. The Natsuki were last seen in the US posing as the Tokyo Fund which was investing in a property development in none other than Charming, California."

Ashleigh paused to take control of her voice. "You're shitting me?" She whispered.

"Not at all cariño. It was all set to go ahead but Lincoln Potter, a most dedicated assistant US attorney revealed the true nature of the Tokyo Fund's business at the town meeting. Needless to say permission for the development has been declined."

"Why would he do that?" Ashleigh asked.

"Because we told him to leave our pet MC alone." Romeo chuckled.

"Who was behind the development in Charming?"

"The Mayor, Jacob Hale."

Ashleigh sighed. "It looks like I'm going home then."

"Take care cariño. I wouldn't want to lose my pet assassin and my pet MC."

"Yeah yeah. I bet ya'll are losing plenty of sleep over this." She ended the call before he could tease her anymore. They'd always had a friendly relationship since she'd first worked for the Galindo cartel.

Finishing her coffee she set out for her bike which she'd parked well away from her apartment building, knowing damn well that it wouldn't have lasted five minutes in that neighbourhood. If she set off for the airport now she could be back in Charming before the end of the day.


	11. Chapter 11

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

_**A/N:**_ _**Apologies for the long chapter. I didn't want to split it. Also apologies for any messing around with chapter uploads. I shouldn't be allowed near my laptop until I've had coffee!**_

**CHAPTER 11:**

Happy had retreated to his dorm room. He couldn't stand the measuring looks from his brothers, knowing they were just waiting for him to go batshit crazy. The sweetbutts pawing at him were getting on his last nerve and the mess caused by so many people being in such a small space was threatening what little was left of his self control. He just wanted to be alone in the quiet, tidy peace of his room.

He was furious with Ashleigh. It wasn't just that she'd gone against a direct instruction from Jax, or that she'd left without saying goodbye. He couldn't even stay mad at her for taking Rose to Texas. The little girl was safer there and now that Samuel and Jax had figured out they were being played there would be nothing to stop him retrieving his daughter once everything had settled down again. The thing that was really grinding on him was that Ashleigh had put herself in danger again after promising she wouldn't be reckless anymore. Taking Rose to Texas had been like setting up a big neon sign saying 'I expect to get hurt and possibly killed'. It wound him up even more knowing that she probably expected him to be one of the people to hurt her. Although if he got his hands on her at this moment he wouldn't make any promises to the contrary.

He'd known what Ashleigh was and what she did before he'd fallen for her. He'd known about Crash before he'd even gotten involved with her and although he knew there was nothing between them anymore it irritated him that she'd put her life and their relationship on the line for another man. He hadn't known about Pope however, and despite the old adage "what goes on a run stays on a run" the thought that she'd had any sort of relationship with the man, even if it was years before Happy had even met her, was like a burn that itched and stung and just wouldn't heal.

He lit a cigarette, leaned back against the headboard of the bed and stared into space, remembering.

-o0o-

Happy was playing pool with Dizzy in the Lone Star club house. He was on his way back to Bakersfield to see his mother and had decided to ride through Texas. He'd lied to himself all the way back that his decision had nothing to do with a pair of bright blue eyes and a delicate shower of tattooed stars, neither of which could currently be found in the lazy Saturday afternoon crowd.

He saw Samuel leave the chapel and make his way over to them. Dizzy had spotted his president as well and stopped lining up his shot.

"Hey boys, can I have a word or two?"

"Sure thing boss." Dizzy replied and as Samuel turned and headed back to the chapel the two men fell into step behind him.

Once inside Samuel closed the heavy doors and took his seat in the large leather wingback chair at the head of the plain oak table. "Hap, we've got a few brothers inside at the moment and we could do with an extra pair of hands to help us out on a job tonight. If it's OK with Clay we'd like you to ride along with us."

"Sure, I'll give him a call. What's the op?"

"One of our competitors is expectin' a delivery of merchandise soon. I'd like to get some details so I can save him of the trouble of pickin' it up his ownself. We've got word that one of his crew, will be visitin' a strip club owned by a friend of mine tonight. It'd be nice to surprise him an' take him for a ride in the moonlight."

"No problem, sounds straightforward." Happy smiled in the expectation of getting to play with some of his toys.

Samuel nodded and Happy left the chapel to call Clay. Once he'd received the OK from his president, with the proviso that he didn't end up dead or arrested and therefore out of commission for SAMCRO, he let Samuel know that he was good to go.

Later that night Happy found himself sat in the clubhouse with Tag, Crash and Ashleigh; waiting for the call from Samuel to confirm that he, Dizzy and Terry had successfully snagged their target.

Happy found it curious enough that Ashleigh was in the club house whilst this was going down, considering it was mostly empty. She'd arrived a short while ago wearing a padded black leather jacket over a pink Barbie t-shirt, with black jeans and black biking boots. She had been carrying a small black rucksack. Once Tag received the call from his president, Happy was even more surprised that Ashleigh followed them out of the club house and mounted her own bike, a scarlet Ducati, slinging the rucksack over both shoulders as she did so.

"Stop starin' at me like I got three heads." She griped at him before donning a helmet that covered her whole head leaving only the length of her brown ponytail exposed.

Tag led their little convoy to an old barn, part of a farm set in several acres of scrubby brush land. It was the sort of place where screaming wouldn't be heard for miles. Happy had enjoyed watching the way Ashleigh confidently handled her machine, even though she looked so small on it. It wasn't the sort of bike he'd ride, he preferred the laid back comfort of his Harley, especially for long trips, rather than being leant forward, crouched up, face almost in the handle bars.

They dismounted and left their helmets with their bikes. Happy could see that Dizzy had brought the prisoner in a large van, while Samuel and Terry had followed on their bikes. They walked into the barn using a small door to one side of the large sliding ones. Dizzy, Terry and Samuel were stood in front of a young Hispanic looking man who was currently hanging by his wrists which had been tied with a rope that had then been slung over a rafter and pulled until his toes barely touched the floor. Several lamps had been set up to dispel the echoing darkness in the large structure.

"Nice job." Ashleigh commented as she examined the set up before shrugging out of her rucksack and dropping it to the floor. She crouched down in front of it and pulled out a plastic sheet covered in flowers which Happy recognised as a shower curtain. She carefully spread the sheet under the hanging man. Next she extracted an old piece of rolled up leather from the bag which she smoothed out on the dusty floor. She reached back into the bag and took out a small roll of fabric which she untied and spread on the leather. Happy could see several metal implements glinting from their pockets in the roll.

"We'll leave you to it baby girl." Samuel nodded at the others. "Call me when you're done." He added to Dizzy before he left the building with Terry, Tag and Crash.

Ashleigh was completely absorbed in setting up her tools as the young man whimpered from the burning sensation in his shoulders.

Seeing Happy's look of consternation Dizzy explained. "We usually get Ash to do the messy bit. She's real good at it. She's does for a livin' as well as takin' people out an' clearin' up other folks messes after the fact. Samuel an' Terry don't like to watch since she'll always be their little girl. They find it a touch disturbin' watching someone they still see as a six year old in pigtails carvin' a body up. Tag just don't have the stomach for bein' around it. Crash? Well, him an' Ash were serious before he got injured on tour in Iraq. She had a lot to do with him recoverin' as well as he has." Dizzy rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "They couldn't work through some of the attitude problems he's stuck with. That's all over with now anyhow but he still don't like watching his former sweetie at work."

"Now you're a touch over-dressed there perrito." Ashleigh said smoothly as she cut off the prisoner's vest. She replaced the scissors in the role and selected a tool that looked like an oversized needle with a handle. Happy decided that it might be quite interesting to watch a fellow enthusiast at work.

"Now pequeño cachorro," she said holding the implement up in front of his face, "we wanna know about a delivery you boys are expectin' soon an' ya'll are gonna tell me all about it." Her Texan accent was as thick as syrup.

The young man gasped frantically as she smoothed her free hand over the skin above his collar bone, searching for a particular point before sliding the sharp spike slowly into his skin, causing him to scream in agony. She slowly pulled the needle out again, and searched on his body for another spot a couple of inches below a pectoral muscle. Again she slowly inserted and withdrew the needle eliciting another agonised yell from her victim.

"She's workin' some acupressure points." Explained Dizzy. "Just softenin' him up."

They watched as Ashleigh repeated the process in different locations on the body, murmuring to the captive all the time the questions that they wanted answering, although Dizzy and Happy could barely hear her over the screams.

She turned back to her collection of tools and selected another instrument that had a long straight shaft with a small but wicked looking hook on the end.

"I was just tickling ya'll before perrito. You're gonna give up what ya know now." Ashleigh said whilst running her palm down the hostages sweating face.

Ashleigh got to work with the hook, leaving thin trails of blood oozing down the swinging body. It almost looked like she was pinning red ribbons to him.

Eventually the man changed from shrieking for her to stop to yelling the information that they wanted. Dizzy stepped outside to call Samuel to let him know the details of the consignment and the plans for its transportation.

Happy had been watching Ashleigh work feeling the stirrings of excitement and lust at the way she methodically manipulated the body hanging in front of her. There was something so gentle and tender about the way she gently caressed the skin, seeking out the spots she was looking for, before expertly and viciously applying the instruments.

Dizzy returned and Happy realised that Ashleigh hadn't stopped when the information had started to flow.

Dizzy walked slowly over to Ashleigh. "Ash. Honey? It's time to stop now. You're done."

She didn't answer him.

"Ash? Baby?" Dizzy gently shook her shoulder.

Still no response.

"Shit!" Dizzy walked back to Happy running his hands over his face.

"What's up?" Happy asked quietly.

"She gets like this sometimes. Goes over to the dark side. Forgets what she's here to do and gets a bit too caught up in it."

"Ahhh." Happy looked back at Ashleigh. "Now I get why we're here."

"Yeah, anyone could get the jump on her when she's like this, an' if we can't stop her she'll carry on all night. I need to break her out of this." Dizzy was looking at Ashleigh with his brows drawn in concern.

Happy pulled out his Glock and shot the shrieking informant in the head. Dizzy just looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Happy shrugged but when they turned back to Ashleigh they could see that she hadn't stopped working on the body.

Happy walked over to her. With one hand he grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the hook. He wrapped her ponytail around his other fist and turned her head so that she was looking at him. He was taken aback by the blank look in her eyes. She was glassy eyed as if sleepwalking.

He tugged her hair sharply. "Come on. Time to wake up Tinker Bell." He jerked her hair again. He could see the shudder as it ran down the length of her body, her eyelids half closing. He tightened his hold on her wrist.

"Let go of my fucking wrist." Ashleigh said, enunciating each word carefully, as she opened her eyes and looked into his.

"There we go." Happy smiled at her and let go of her ponytail. "Welcome back to the land of the livin'."

Ashleigh tore her gaze from Happy's eyes and looked around to see the dead body.

"Who shot him?" She asked irritably.

"I did." Happy countered, still holding her wrist.

"Well now that means I'm gonna have to find the fuckin' bullet as well." Ashleigh did not sound pleased.

"Woman you need to clean this shit up." Happy teased her with a grin.

"If that wasn't part of the reason I'm here I'd kick your ass for saying that." Ashleigh said pulling at his hold on her wrist. She was disturbed by how warm and strong his large hand felt around her arm and how close she'd come to not being able to look away from those dark pools.

Happy stepped back before letting go of her arm since she was still holding something sharp and dangerous.

"We'll leave you to it darlin'." He smirked before following Dizzy outside. Dizzy turned the vans headlights on to give Ashleigh some more illumination. They lent against the front of the van and both lit cigarettes as Ashleigh came out and stalked around to the back of the van. She yanked the doors open and when she returned she was carrying a sizeable, plastic box containing a roll of bin liners, two large butchers' knives and a pair of pincers.

At Happy's questioning look Ashleigh paused on her way back into the barn to explain. "The fella that owns this farm is a friend of ours. He breeds pigs."

She carried her load back into the barn. They heard a heavy thud followed by some obscure sucking noises. After a short pause they heard the wet sound of the knives cutting through flesh.

It took a while but eventually Ashleigh emerged from the barn carrying a full, tied bin liner in one hand and the two, now bloody, knives in the other. She was wearing gloves and coveralls. Happy looked her up and down, and she caught him scanning her. "I had them in my bag for the squirty work." She said making him cough with laughter on his cigarette smoke.

She threw the bin liner into the back of the van and placed the knives on top if it. She walked back past them without looking at them and when she came out of the barn again she was carrying the plastic box, which was now full of pieces of the young man and obviously heavy. As Happy stepped forward to help her she shook her head. "No. You don't want to be gettin' any DNA on you. I can manage." She heaved the box into the back of the van and walked back towards the barn. "Dizz, can you grab the lamps?" She called over her shoulder.

Happy followed Dizzy into the barn curious to see how she'd left it. Ashleigh was stripping the gloves and coveralls off and putting them into another bin sack. She saw him looking around and straightened up as she finished tying the neck of the bag. "The rope, shower curtain and his clothes are in that sack in the back of the van."

She reached into her rucksack and pulled out another pair of coveralls before pulling on her leather jacket and swinging the rucksack onto her back. She grabbed her rubbish bag and followed Dizzy out of the barn as he carried the lamps over to the van and placed them in the back, she threw the sack in after them. Handing Dizzy the coveralls she turned to face Happy again. "Dizz is going to feed the pigs, the rubbish'll get taken straight to the dump an' he'll bring the knives to me for cleanin' tomorrow. Even if they find pieces, there're won't be enough evidence to tie it to any of us."

She held her hand out to hand him something. When Happy held his palm out, she dropped the remains of the bullet from his Glock into it. He rubbed it between his fingers before pocketing it.

"You OK to ride?" He was concerned by the dark circles under her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm good." She smiled up at him.

Dizzy bumped shoulders with Happy and kissed Ashleigh on the cheek before setting off in the van. Happy watched Ashleigh pull her helmet on and swing her leg over her bike, suddenly feeling jealous of the machine, before getting on his own bike and revving the engine.

Happy followed Ashleigh back to a small house set in private grounds, out of sight of the main street and surrounded by trees. His worry for her hadn't been lessened at all by the fact that she'd nearly swerved off the road a couple of times. He found himself getting irate that she'd lied to him and been careless with her own well-being.

Ashleigh pulled her bike into the driveway and killed the engine. She pulled her helmet off and laid it on the seat of the bike. She shook her hair out of its ponytail, combing her fingers through it to shake it out.

Happy pulled up behind her and left his own helmet on the handlebars of his bike before stalking over to her.

He grabbed her by her upper arms and turned her to face him. "I thought you said you were OK to ride." He grated.

Ashleigh was looking at him with wide, dazed eyes. When she opened her mouth to speak he kissed her roughly, pulling her against his body.

Ashleigh was exhausted from hacking up the body, but the sudden adrenaline rush hit her in all the right places and she kissed Happy back, half unbelieving that this was even happening. Apart from Dizzy, no one else in her extended family could even bear to look at her after they' seen her at work, let alone unleash this sort of primal lust.

She could feel him hard through both their jeans and couldn't help but arch her body against his, gaining an answering growl from low in his throat. Ashleigh broke the kiss and whispered. "Let me go."

He released her arms and she stepped back before walking up the steps to her front door and opening it. She turned in the doorway and looked back at him. "Well, aren't you comin' in?"

Happy followed her up the steps, wondering for one second what he was getting himself into and whether he was going to walk away in one piece. As Ashleigh locked the door behind them he decided it was worth the risk. He pressed her back against the door, kissing her deeply again, resting his palms flat against the door by her head and pinning her body with his.

When they stopped to breathe Ashleigh smiled mischievously up at him. "The shower's upstairs. I don't know 'bout you but I feel filthy." He gently thrust against her, making her gasp, as he considered just taking her there and then, but decided against it. He stepped back, smiling as she pouted, until he said. "Lead the way."

The next morning as the early morning sun tried to prise its fingers between the curtains they lay wrapped in each other, gently stroking. Happy lay on his back with one arm behind his head and the other around Ashleigh, holding her against his side. She had thrown her leg over one of his and was tracing the eleven smiley faces on his torso. Happy ran his hand from her hip up to her shoulder and gently rubbed his thumb over two of the twenty three stars tattooed there.

"Why aren't these two filled in?" He asked.

"They're my first two. I didn't kill them." She told him about when she was fifteen, about the two men who'd come to hurt her and her mother as a message to the club and what had happened to them.

Ashleigh sat up. "Anyway lazy bones, time for breakfast." As she moved to get out of the bed Happy pulled her back down, rolling over her, pinning her wrists over her head and settling between her thighs.

"Did I tell you you're beautiful when you're working?" He whispered at her ear as he thrust into her.

Later, Happy was sat at the small table in the kitchen, smoking and drinking coffee whilst Ashleigh cooked breakfast for them both. He was watching her move about the room thinking that he'd never felt more at peace in the company of a woman who hadn't been related to him and wondering what he was going to do with that thought.

"You look like you're thinkin' too hard." Ashleigh said without looking up from the grill.

Happy didn't have an answer for her.

"Look." She said as she plated the food. "I'm not going to drape myself all over you and beg you to stay or nag you about when you're comin' back. You won't get that from me so relax. It ain't my style an' it won't get me anywhere so I'm not goin' to bother. You're a nomad, affiliated to another charter and you're usually at least two states away." She locked eyes with him as she set the plate in front of him. "But you're welcome here anytime you come back."

-o0o-

Happy rolled up off the bed and stretched. Now was not the time to get roaring drunk, but a little tequila wouldn't hurt. He still had no idea what he was going to do with Ashleigh if she made it back alive and he wasn't prepared to contemplate the alternative just yet.


	12. Chapter 12

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 12:**

Jax shut the phone and put the handset on the table in the chapel. He felt a thrill of adrenaline run through him. Finally they had a lead and could take some action. He'd hated sitting around waiting for other people to do their bit. He got up, opened the double doors and called out "Church. Now!"

Juice waved to indicate he'd heard and pointed to the dorms before going to extract Tig from which ever sweetbutt he was on top of. Happy put down the bottle of tequila he'd just picked up and headed over. All the other members were within earshot and left whatever they were doing to follow Happy into the chapel.

Everyone took their seats and Juice arrived with Tig who was still shrugging into his cut and grousing about being interrupted. Jax leaned back in his chair with one hand flat on the table and looked at his brothers.

"Lieutenant Roosevelt just phoned. He's currently 'misfiled' most of the paperwork to keep this off the Feds' radar. He agrees with us that havin' the FBI pull every biker from here to Texas might do more harm than good. But he's not going to wait forever for this to be resolved." Jax paused. "There are only our prints on the bike, but there are two sets of DNA on it. Adam Donovan . Crash and Robert 'Bobby' Kilmara, a known associate of the Niners. There was only a small sample from Bobby, just enough to test. The good Lieutenant isn't convinced it would stand up in a court."

"I still don't see how the Niners would connect with Crash." Tig said. "Or how Crash'd connect with them."

"Me either." Jax agreed. "But the DNA says that they hooked up."

"We need to let Samuel know who's setting us up." Opie said.

"I think we need to speak to the Niners first." Jax looked around the table. "Can we get to Laroy?"

"Not easily. He's been one twitchy mo' fo' lately." Tig had the grace to look at least slightly embarrassed.

"P'rhaps they're pissed off 'bout that last run in." Chibs mused. "Ash was packin' phosphorus. That stuff's a wee bit evil."

"Not to mention they're still hot for Jax and Tig." Happy added.

Everyone looked at him, astonished that he was speaking again. Happy just shrugged and tapped the ash from his cigarette.

"Right." Jax leaned forward placing his elbows on the table. "Let's go fishin'. Tig, I want you to stay here with Juice an' Ope. Juice, keep workin' on that print an' the background of Lone Star I still wanna know more about our in-laws. Hap, Chibs, you're with me on the fishin' trip to Oakland."

"Jax, man, let me back you up." Tig almost pleaded.

"You can't brother." Jax shook his head. "If any of the Niners see you we'll end up battlin'. We need to get in, get the intel an' get out fast."

Tig wasn't happy about Jax riding to Oakland without him but he couldn't argue with the logic of the decision. They all stood and left the chapel. Juice went to retrieve his laptop, which Gemma was desperately trying to keep out of the reach of Abel. Jax, Chibs and Happy went to their dorms to change into plain clothes for the run.

Ten minutes later they were sat on their bikes in the lot getting ready to leave. Tara had come out to see Jax off. "Be safe baby." She murmured before kissing him goodbye. Gemma leaned against the doorway of the club house, arms crossed; face impassive, watching Tara's little show. She wondered if Jax would notice if Tara went missing whilst he was away. She was sure she still had Bachman's number somewhere.

The three bikers pulled out of the lot in a roar of engines and a cloud of exhaust fumes, eager to be taking positive action and relieved to be free of the staleness of the crowded club house. Happy relished the fresh air of the late afternoon as it cleared his head. The feel of the machine beneath him and the sensation of just being out in the open with the wind rushing past him always helped him think more clearly. Jax was leading, with Happy and Chibs riding side by side behind him. Seeing Jax's back in front of him made him think about the different view Ashleigh took to following orders. Happy had no desire to lead a club, was settled in the position he held and was content to take whatever orders his president saw fit to give him for the good of the club. If he liked and respected the person giving the orders then that was a bonus. Although Ashleigh was completely loyal to the clubs she called family, there were subtle differences. As women had virtually no standing in the pecking order of the club, only in relation to their status regarding each other, Ashleigh didn't see why she should take orders from someone that hadn't earnt her respect and proved that they were worth following. She was capable of holding her own in their world and had paid her dues with her own blood and the blood of other people.

Eventually they reached Oakland as the evening started drawing in. They were riding around keeping an eye out for Niners when they spotted Lucas Queen, one of Laroy's inner circle, walking down a street near the city hospital. Jax and Happy hung back as Chibs followed Queen. As he turned into a quiet side street Jax and Happy pulled forward. The three bikers surrounded him and backed him against a wall, engines revving, guns drawn.

"Now Lucas, don't do anythin' stupid." Jax said as he and Chibs got off their bikes and walked towards him. "We just want a quiet word is all."

Lucas was watching Jax since he was speaking and Happy since he still had a gun pointed at him, so he didn't realise Chibs was behind him until his arms were pinned.

"We got a problem Lucas." Jax said helping Chibs hold the struggling man as Happy swung his leg over his bike and walked towards them. "We got evidence says one of your boys had somethin' to do with a drive by at our place yesterday. You know anythin' about that?"

"No man." Lucas grunted. "You fucked us up last time. Why'd you think we'd come after you there?"

"Revenge." Jax shrugged. "Isn't that what it's always about?"

Lucas eyes widened as Happy pulled out an evil looking knife. He started struggling again as Happy sliced through his hoodie. "What's this brother?" Happy asked when he found the large white bandage that was covering half of Lucas' chest underneath. Chibs and Jax held the squirming man tightly as Happy pulled the bandage off.

"Shit man that is nasty." Happy said with a wide smile as he examined the deep, gaping wound, surrounded by smaller, weeping craters.

"Yeah." Gasped Lucas. "That's a fuckin' phosphorus burn. That shit just don't stop eatin' you up. You guys are fuckin' rabid packin' that shit."

"Your boy, the one we're lookin' for. Bobby Kilmara. You seen him lately Lucas?" Jax asked.

"No." Lucas was still squirming. "When you find him send him my way. That fucker's been AWOL for a week."

"His DNA puts him on the bike used by the guy that shot us up." Jax continued.

"Good for him." Lucas grunted. "But it didn't come from us."

Happy put the point of his knife into the burn and twisted the blade. Lucas screamed. "I'm tellin' you the truth you fucked up crackers. We ain't seen Bobby for days and we did not make a move on you guys."

Happy grabbed Lucas' jaw so that he could look into Lucas' eyes as he moved the point of the knife to a different area of the burn."

"I'm tellin' you the fuckin' truth!" Lucas spat before screaming again as Happy dug the knife into the burn. "Fuck you! We had nothin' to do with this."

Happy looked at Jax. "He's legit. I've had plenty of people try an' lie to me. He's on the up."

Chibs nodded at the street. "We need tae get out o' here before PD come lookin' for the ruckus."

Happy quickly patted Lucas down and finding his gun appropriated it and stuck it in the waistband of his jeans, pulling his hoodie over it. Jax and Chibs let go of Lucas and stepped away as the man's legs gave way and he hit the ground. "Stay in Oakland, you ain't welcome in Charming." Jax growled before all three mounted their bikes and headed out of town to the sound of sirens approaching.

During the ride through the gathering darkness Happy considered the burn on Lucas' body that didn't look as though it was healing. He smiled to himself as he remembered that his wife might be crazy stupid but that she also did quite a good job of taking care of herself, most of the time.

When they arrived at the club house, all the members in situ automatically headed for the chapel without being called.

Jax was pacing, too agitated to sit. "It looks like the Niners are bein' played as well. They're missin' their guy too. So the question now is; who in the hell is tryin' to play the three of us off against each other and why."

Juice had brought his laptop into the chapel and was still tapping away, completely absorbed, earning a frown from Jax until he suddenly sat back. "Ooooooh shit! You guy's are not gonna fuckin' believe this!"

"What?" Jax snapped.

"I finally got a hit on that print that Ash took in Texas." Juice looked up at his president. "It's fuckin' Yakuza."

Happy tuned to Jax. "Lemme see those pics of the trailer again." Jax tossed his phone over. Happy caught it and scanned through the photos. He seemed to be paying attention to one or two in particular. "Those cuts could've been made by a tanto, the short version of a katana. A Samurai sword." He explained in response to some of the blank looks he was getting. "A tanto'd be sharp enough an' about long enough to make those marks." He stated, handing the phone back to Jax so that he could see the portion of the photo that Happy had zoomed in on.

Chibs held his hand out for the phone when Jax had done looking at it. He examined it before muttering. "The Yakuza went after Crash an' somethin' fucked up while they were there, so they took the finger off whoever messed up. They really mustn't have thought that trailer'd be found fer days or they were in a rush an' couldn't find the finger. Ash must have spotted it."

"That's great." Jax slumped into his chair. "But what the fuck do the Yakuza have against us? I know we didn't exactly part from the Triads on good terms but seriously, how many assholes can we have pissed at us at one time?"

"I'll get on it." Juice turned back to his laptop, tapping away furiously.

Happy leaned forward. "Be fuckin' quick boy, 'cause my old lady's likely already got that intel. I'm gonna be pissed if she's takin' on the fuckin' Yakuza by herself." He glared at Tig. "Bitch definitely inherited her daddy's crazy."

Everyone was bit concerned that Happy was going to start a fight with Tig, until he sat back with a proud smile on his face, muttering. "She's prob'ly half way to fuckin' Tokyo already."

"What have the Yakuza got against the Niners?" Opie asked breaking the silence.

"Who knows." Chibs shrugged. "They're probably just usin' them as part o' the plan tae have us all wipe each other off the face o' the earth."

Jax dug in his jeans for his phone. "I'm gonna call Samuel. Tell him what we know. This is a definite set up. His boy's in the clear, but this ain't lookin' good for his state of health. Ope, call Roosevelt. Tell him he needs to lose that paperwork for good unless he wants Interpol crawlin' up his ass."


	13. Chapter 13

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

_**A mahoosive Thank You to everyone who's taken the time to follow, favourite or review. You guys give me the warm fuzzies :-)**_

**CHAPTER 13:**

Ashleigh had picked up the Mercedes from one of the airport parking lots where she'd left it the day before. By the time she arrived in Charming the sun was beginning to set, painting the sky in glowing shades of red, orange and gold. It would have been more inconspicuous to pick up a rental, but she'd decided to risk the Merc in case she needed its speed and power.

She kept an avid watch all around her. The sensible thing for Jax to have done after the drive by would have been to declare a lockdown, but she had no way of knowing how close on her trail he was.

The town seemed quiet enough as she drove through it. She drove past her house twice, looking for signs of life before she pulled into the empty driveway. She'd had to leave her guns, knives and helmet in a locker at Houston Rail station. Her bike was parked safely in a multi-storey that had decent CCTV and friendly security guards. She was still wearing the heavy leather jacket.

She walked up the front door and tried her key in the lock, heartened that Happy hadn't had the locks changed following her sudden departure. Not that such a thing would have stopped her getting into the house if she'd wanted to.

Ashleigh opened the door quietly and stepped carefully inside, closing it gently behind her. She stopped and listened for long seconds, hearing nothing in the stillness of the empty house. She crept up the stairs, still expecting him to be waiting for her even though she knew he was probably with Jax at the clubhouse. She took a quick look in Rose's room and their own. Seeing that the mess she'd left was undisturbed she relaxed. If he was here he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from tidying up. It seemed like weeks ago that she'd last been in the house, not just a day and a half.

She stopped dead at the door to her office when she spotted the pieces of her phone on the floor and the dent in the plasterboard where it had obviously impacted having been thrown. She blinked back unexpected tears at the thought of Happy hurting when he'd followed that particular breadcrumb. She'd deliberately left the phone where he'd find it so that he'd make the call. She couldn't risk them thinking for one minute that Pope was behind this, couldn't take the chance that they'd face him down. The man was pure Machiavellian evil. He might say that extreme violence kept the wolves at bay, but only a fool would think that he didn't personally enjoy the effect that his viciously sadistic and manipulative actions had. There was a lot of fallout from this that she was going to have to deal with.

Ashleigh opened the safe. Happy had left her guns, knives and her kit inside. She was thankful for that and wondered if he'd known she would come back for them and hadn't wanted to deprive her of them. She pulled out her Beretta 'Cheetah' and its thigh holster. She quickly clipped the holster into place over her jeans and inserted the gun, making sure it was secure and comfortable. She added a thirteen round clip to the magazine pouch and picked her kukri knife in its scabbard from the safe and attached it to her belt. Ashleigh shrugged out of her jacket and wrapped on the arm sheaths for her throwing knives before adding the small blades. She donned her jacket again and checked the positioning of the knives before pocketing a second spare clip. She slipped her collection of instruments and a silencer for the gun into her rucksack before heading back into the master bedroom.

Ashleigh spread the wardrobe doors fully open and crouched down in front of the closet before pulling out a large pink box topped with a cream bow made of shiny ribbon. The gift tag that read 'Merry Christmas, love Mom and Dad x' was still attached. She suspected that Happy had no clue what the box contained, being reluctant to look in something so acutely feminine. The thought made her grin as she extracted the contents of the box.

Having already looked up Hale's address Ashleigh knew where she was headed next. She locked the front door behind her, her gaze sweeping the street up and down as she made her way to her car.

It hadn't been hard to find Hale's large, sprawling house, but for a man who dealt with a variety of unsavoury characters his security arrangements left a lot to be desired. It hadn't been much of a challenge to get into the grounds, Ashleigh would have been disappointed but she was thankful she didn't have to expend any extra energy since she was sure the night was going to be a long one. She circled the house, remaining hidden in the vast shrubberies that had been planted to disguise the high boundary wall. There weren't many lights on inside, so it was easy to spot Hale working at his desk in his den under the glow of a Tiffany-style desk lamp. The French windows were open and the gauzy curtains billowed softly in the twilight breeze.

Making sure that no one was around to see her; Ashleigh sprinted across the garden in a crouch, pulling her gun out as she did so. She straightened up as she entered the room behind Hale, the gun held in front of her. She had the barrel to the back of his neck before he could turn at the sound of her light footsteps on the wooden floor.

"Don't panic, I'm not here to hurt you. I only want information." She said quietly but firmly.

"Says the woman with a gun to my head." Hale replied, hardly any nervousness apparent in his voice.

"All I want from y'all is an address for your contact for the Tokyo Fund." Ashleigh employed her usual trick of allowing her accent to build; it soothed most people into a false sense of security.

"And why should I give you that?" Hale asked without moving.

"Did y'all know they were linked to the Yakuza?" Ashleigh asked conversationally.

"What? No! I knew about the Natsuki Family's business, but…" She could tell that he was lying, but decided to play along.

"Mayor Hale, you wouldn't want the Japanese mafia looking in your direction for that property deal goin' south now would you?"

"No I would not."

"So give me the address. By the time I'm done they'll have forgotten about you and be lookin' only in my direction. You'll owe me one, but you'll still have all your fingers and your brain'll still be in your skull."

"How could I possibly resist such a delicate offer?"

She ignored the sarcasm. "I don't have all night Jacob."

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Does it matter?"

"Not really." He gave a miniscule shrug before giving her an address in Santa Cruz. "That's where they were when they were last in touch."

"Thank you." Ashleigh was about to remove the gun when he spoke again.

"I recognise your accent. You're with tall, dark and menacing from Teller-Morrow aren't you."

Ashleigh pressed the muzzle of the gun a little harder into his neck before she stepped back. "Anything to get the Sons out of Charming huh? You know what happens in a vacuum Jacob? Everything rushes to fill it." She said before slipping quickly through the open doors and disappearing into the new darkness before Jacob Hale could turn around.


	14. Chapter 14

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 14:**

The property was perched on the cliffs overlooking the rolling ocean. It was insulated from the road and the rest of the world by a thick belt of shrubby woodland that tapered into a manicured lawn that surrounded the house. Ashleigh was navigating the intertwining shadows thrown by the trees in the light of the full moon, aided by the residual light from the house and the small lamps dotted around the grounds. She was gathering as much information as possible before deciding on her next move, when her foot hit something that was too soft to be a rock. Cursing herself for not having brought her night vision goggles she knelt down to see what she'd almost trodden on. At first her mind didn't want to comprehend what she was seeing, but there was no mistaking it. She picked up the severed hand and turned it palm down, tracing her fingers over the Marine Corps ring on the middle finger and the tattoo of a capital 'A' in cursive script between the thumb and forefinger. She wriggled out of her rucksack and gently wrapped the hand in a t-shirt before placing it carefully inside and returning the bag to her shoulders.

She moved forwards stealthily, one eye on the house and one eye now on the ground in front of her. She found several more body parts, some had belonged to Crash and some hadn't. She guessed that they had been scattered for the local wildlife to feast on. When she came across a torso she bit back a sob. Being a larger portion of body she could tell from the feel of it, even in the dark, that it hadn't been there so very long. The thought that she'd come so close to being able to save her friend from this brutal death made it difficult for her to breathe.

She ran her hand over the tattoo on the chest, painted in shades of grey by the moonlight. She traced the outline of the blue star, inlaid with a white star, with a red star at the centre. It was the same design that graced the main patch on all the Lone Star MC cuts. Ashleigh remembered all the times her fingers had roamed over this skin when the chest beneath it had risen and fallen with breath and thudded with the beat of his heart. Allowing herself a brief moment of regret she quickly pulled herself together. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to take the whole of his body back for his brothers to bury she quickly removed her rucksack again. Taking out the fabric role of instruments she removed a scalpel and, more by touch than by sight, skinned the tattoo from the body. She reverently folded the piece of flesh and wrapped it in the t-shirt with the hand. The blood had long since drained away in an unknown location. After tucking the bundle into her rucksack she removed the silencer for the Beretta before pulling her bag back onto her shoulders and screwing the silencer into the barrel of her gun.

Ashleigh rocked back on her haunches, her forearms on her knees, her forehead leaning on her clenched fists. She counted each inhalation and exhalation until the red mist of anger hardened into the icy rage she could embrace and utilise.

She made another two passes around the house, paying more attention to the layout and occupants. There didn't seem to be a large contingent of people, but that was alright; she only needed one or two to tell her what she needed to know. She wondered if interior designers would be interested in how easy they made her job sometimes by generally locating offices and dens on ground floors and gracing them with large windows. She identified the least visible access to the house, a small side door that looked to connect to the kitchen area.

Making sure that there were no eyes on her, she crossed the grass in a sprinting crouch and flattened herself against the wall next to the door, making sure to keep her breathing even and quiet. She reached out a hand and gently twisted the handle. The door opened under her touch, experience told her that this was not a good thing. Careful people rarely got stupid and stupid people were unpredictable and dangerous.

Ashleigh eased the door open and slid through the gap into the gloom of the kitchen, immediately dropping into a crouch. Holding the Beretta in her left, less dominant, hand she freed her kukri knife with her right hand. It was risky going in with her hands full like this, but it also gave her speedy options depending on what she encountered around each corner. She moved through the house like a deadly ghost, working her way to the den via circuitous routes. She killed silently, taking out as many people on the periphery as possible before confronting what were obviously the senior figures that she'd seen grouped casually around the desk in the office. She'd left the guards patrolling the grounds alive; she'd learnt that killing the people outside the building raised alarms quicker for some strange reason.

By her calculations there were only the three guards outside and the four men in the den left. She paused by the door to the den, embracing the adrenalin coursing through her and readying herself for the odds of four to one. She thought that her mind, focused as it was, must be playing tricks on her. She was sure that for a fleeting instant she'd heard the sound of Harley engines. Ashleigh's only thought when she felt the cold metal of the gun muzzle at her temple was that if she survived, she was never, ever going to live this down with Happy.


	15. Chapter 15

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 15:**

"Jax! You gotta hear this!" Juice's shout from the doors of the chapel turned every head in the club house. Every man wearing a cut that could claim a seat at the table rose and made his way over to the door. Juice retreated to his seat, double checking the information on the screen of his laptop that he'd already triple checked before deciding he needed to speak to his president.

"Wassup?" Jax asked as he walked in last, having made sure everyone else was accounted for.

Juice nervously licked his lips; no one liked being the bearer of bad news. "The Yakuza are backing the Natsuki Family." Juice looked around the table at the various puzzled faces. "The Tokyo Fund was the front for the Natsuki Family. The group that was investing in Charming Heights?" He sighed; sometimes it was hard to deal with people who were so wrapped up in the club that they missed the finer details of dealings the outside world. "The Natsuki Family are the number one makers and distributors of hard core, Tig-style dirty porn shit…. apart from the paedo aspect." He added as a conciliatory afterthought. "That asshole Lincoln Potter outed them at the town meeting and the deal fell though."

"What's that gotta do with us?" Tig asked, perfectly at ease with Juice's description of the Natsuki family's business.

"Maybe they blame us for bringin' the heat to Charming. If Potter hadn't been here lookin' into SAMCRO, that development would've got the town council seal of approval no problem." Juice theorised.

Bobby looked at his brothers around the table. "Jacob Hale was motivatin' that deal."

Chibs clapped Juice on the shoulder, nearly sending him face first into his laptop.

"Good work." Jax commended earning a small grateful grin from his intel officer.

Jax turned to look out of the window for a moment before turning back to the table. "We're not going after these fuckers as an army leaving the club unprotected. Chibs, Hap, Tig; you're with me. Ope, Bobby, Juice, you're the last line between this shit and everyone in that room." He tilted his chin towards the chapel doors and the club house beyond. His brothers nodded their acceptance of his orders.

-o0o-

Tara stood with Gemma at the door to the club house watching the four men mount their bikes, dressed in dark clothes and loaded with what looked like nearly every weapon each of them owned. "If that stupid bitch gets my man hurt 'cause of her fucking glory mission, so help me God!" She snarled.

"Hey! Cut that shit out!" Gemma snapped. "Ash is riskin' her life for both her families tryin' to do this. She's tryin' to stop this club gettin' into something they can't get out of and lookin' out for a brother from her other family. Have you even stopped to think what it'll mean for her if it turns out that Crash was in on this? It won't just be the end of her marriage; it'll be the end of her life. And her husband will be the one ordered to kill her. So can it Miss Priss. She's bettin' the house to keep your man safe. Don't you fucking forget to say thank you." Gemma stalked back inside in exasperation.

-o0o-

Jacob Hale was savouring a large glass of brandy following his surprise visitor earlier in the evening when he heard the unmistakable thundering growl of a number of motorcycles.

Not wishing to disturb anyone else in the house he swiftly rose and opened the front door to greet his latest visitors as they wound up the driveway, skidding to a halt at the bottom of the steps to the entrance.

He saw Jax was about to speak and raised his glass to halt him. "No need for threats boys." He gave them the same address he'd given Ashleigh. "You've missed her by about an hour."

None of them bothered to say thank you. They simply turned their bikes around and headed for Santa Cruz. Jacob Hale watched them go, hoping that whatever they found got them killed good and dead.

-o0o-

The two hour ride was a killer: knowing that Ashleigh had an hour's head start on them and wondering what she'd found when she got to her destination. Happy was glad that he had his brothers around him as a focus, an anchor, to keep him from giving way to the icy fear and the burning rage. He felt like he was being ripped apart inside and smothered by a sense of foreboding until he could barely inhale the night air.

They slowed as they reached the gated access to the grounds of the large house. "No cameras." Chibs noted.

"Must have thought this was going to be a pretty temporary arrangement." Tig observed.

"Aye, so how did the lass get past those locked gates?" Chibs wondered aloud.

They turned to watch Happy as he swung his bike in an arc, heading back down the slope they'd just ridden up. Just before he disappeared around the curve of the road he stopped, leaning his bike on its stand as he dismounted. He walked over to the wall, examining something before he waved them over. They followed his lead and saw that he was stood in front of part of the wall that had been built over and around a boulder that had obviously been too deep set in the ground to remove when the road and wall had been constructed. Using the boulder as a boost Happy was able to reach the top of the wall and haul himself over. The others heard him grunt as he landed on the other side. Hearing no gunshots or shouts they followed suit.

Making their way through the gloomy woodland that sheltered the house the quartet reached the edge of the tree line to find that they were facing the large, floor to ceiling French windows that framed the scene in the office within the house. The room was brightly lit, so it wasn't hard for them to see the figures inside. The illumination flooding from the room also enabled them to see the three guards carrying AK47's as they headed towards the disturbance in the room. Unfortunately, the bright lights also enable them to see Ashleigh, being pushed forward by a man with a gun to her head, and provided a clear visual of the man on the other side of the desk to her as he raised his gun and shot her twice in the chest.


	16. Chapter 16

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 16:**

It was a sign of how often they'd fought side by side that, without a word, they moved as one across the lawn, automatically fanning out into a wider line, guns drawn and ready to fire. Happy reacted automatically, wanting only to get into that room.

Tig immediately took two of the guards out, exhibiting the sharp-shooting skills that had earned him his position as a sniper in the Marines. Chibs took the third as his spray of bullets kicked up the turf a foot in front of them. As the group inside the house turned in the direction of the sound of gunfire Happy stopped and raised his gun, firing two shots in quick succession. As the glass in the window shattered, the man who'd shot Ashleigh dropped to the ground as his kneecaps exploded. Jax fired twice, killing the man who'd held the gun to her head.

They carried on moving relentlessly forward. Chibs and Tig on the flanks were scanning for more targets as Happy and Jax kept their weapons trained on the men they could see inside the house.

The two unharmed men were backing away with their hands raised in surrender as the four men stepped over the crunching shards of glass into the room. Tig turned to train his weapon though the window into the night, guarding his brother's backs even as the desperation to spin round and check on his daughter clawed at his shoulders.

Chibs also won his battle to glance down at Ashleigh's still form in favour of checking and protecting the only other entrance into the room. Jax corralled the survivors against a wall as Happy bent to disarm the man he'd shot who was moaning and writhing in agony before double checking that the other man in the room who'd been armed was truly dead. He handed one of the two guns he'd confiscated to Jax and the other to Tig before going to one knee, his Glock still gripped in one hand with his finger on the trigger and his pulse jumping out of his throat, to check on Ashleigh.

He gently laid two fingers against the pulse point in her neck, closing his eyes in relief as he felt the faint throb and sending up a quick prayer of thanks, possibly the first in his life. When he opened his eyes, his brows drew together in bewilderment. There were two bullet holes in her t-shirt, he should have been kneeling in a pool of blood and he…wasn't. Throwing a quick glance around to check that his brothers were all on point, he put his gun down; fisted Ashleigh's t-shirt in both hands and pulled. The thin material ripped apart easily to reveal the two bullets, flattened and half buried in the bullet proof vest she was wearing.

The jerking movement of having her top torn off roused Ashleigh. She came to, blinking in the bright lights of the room and wincing at the pain radiating across her chest.

"Shit that stings like a mother fucker!" Her gritted exclamation had every head turning in her direction.

Tig turned back to the window not trusting himself to speak.

"Glad to see you back in the land of the livin' sis." Jax grinned.

"Ye've got more lives than a feckin' cat!" Chibs muttered before turning back to the door.

Happy didn't say anything; he curled his hand under her arm and roughly hauled Ashleigh to her feet.

"Ahhhh." She gasped. She looked up at him seeing a mixture of emotions playing across his face. "I s'pose I deserved that." She admitted in a hushed voice.

She rubbed her chest over the vest as she stepped around the body of her original assailant. Chibs stepped to one side as Ashleigh crouched under his outstretched gun into the hallway and came back with her gun, knife and rucksack.

"It's OK boys." She sighed. "This is all of them."

"These were the only guys in the place?" Chibs asked.

"No, but the rest are dead." Ashleigh replied flatly as she walked over to the man that had shot her. Putting her bag and her weapons on the desk she turned to Happy "Give me a hand baby?" She asked as she crouched and put one forearm under the arm of the twisting man. Happy copied her on the other side and the hauled the screaming man into the large office chair at the desk.

Tig and Chibs kept their places but relaxed their stances. Jax kept his gun trained on the two men in front of him.

Ashleigh reached into her rucksack and pulled out the bundled t-shirt. "Now sugar." She said as she unrolled it to reveal its grisly contents. "Y'all are gonna tell us just what in the hell you boys thought you were doin'." She reached back into the bag and brought out her roll of tools. She handed it to Happy who took it with a raised eyebrow. Ashleigh simply shrugged, she wasn't on her A game at the moment and they needed answers. Instead she picked up her gun and moved to Jax's side to help keep their captives under guard and giving him the chance to relax a little, knowing that the muscles in his shoulders and arms would be burning from holding his gun up in a two-handed grip for so long. As Jax moved to one side the uninjured men got a glimpse of their friend bleeding profusely and the severed hand and folded piece of skin that had been in Ashleigh's bag. Both started retching.

"I think the only thing we're gonna get out of these two cowboys is their lunch." Ashleigh muttered.

Happy pulled an implement out of the roll and turned it over and around in his hands before leaning forward over the pale and sweating man.

"Tell us." He said simply before pushing the implement into what was left of one knee and twisting it. The man shrieked until Happy pulled the instrument out, which left him gasping for breath through the pain.

"The….the… Sons." He wheezed. "If it wasn't….for them…..Charming Heights….."

"You mean to tell me that ya'll tried to start a war over a couple of fancy fuckin' condos?" Ashleigh asked in disbelief.

It didn't look like the man would answer until Happy moved forward menacingly.

"No…..No… not just…..knew…..you'd….if we…if we…took the boy….made it...made it look..." He panted.

Ashleigh was too stunned to speak, but she saw Jax was turning to the man in the chair, so despite her protesting ribs she raised her own gun to guard their week-stomached hostages.

"You mean to tell me that you tried to take out my club to get to my sister?" Jax demanded.

The man in the chair nodded. "Two...birds...one...stone."

"Why?" Was all Happy asked before poking the tool back into the wound, eliciting another scream.

"Kyoto...one month ago." The prisoner gasped when he'd stopped shrieking.

The Sons turned to look at Ashleigh. "Yeah, I remember. Two families fightin' over the right to control dealin' in Kyoto. One of the families brought me in to take out the head of the other. Boy, shoot the fuckin' messenger why don't you?!" She huffed in exasperation. "So what are y'all? Natsuki or Yakuza?" Ashleigh asked gesturing with her gun at the three prisoners.

"We Natsuki." Answered one of the men at the wall. He looked around a little frantically."

The man in the chair glared balefully at her. Happy lifted up the captive's limp left hand to examine the bandaged little finger. "Guess that answers my question. You must be Daichi Karubo." The man continued to glare at her.

"Fuckin' brilliant." Griped Ashleigh. "Bringin' more rain down on my own head."

"What do you wanna do with them?" Jax asked her.

The gunshot startled all of them. They turned to see Happy standing with smoke whisping from his Glock next to the man who was no longer screaming but who was now missing a large portion of skull.

Happy stared at Ashleigh daring her to say something. She gazed back understanding that he'd needed to kill the man that he'd believed had killed her. Tig looked at both of them before looking down. "Shit brother. You got brains on me." He said giving his leg a quick shake.

Jax shook his head. "I say we throw these two fish back. I'm sure they'll make it plain to their friends that they don't wanna come lookin' for more trouble at our door." The two men nodded frantically.

"Are you comin' back to Charming Ash? Ma's worryin' 'bout you." Jax asked.

"I need to take Crash home." Ashleigh said quietly motioning her gun at the remains on the desk.

Happy turned and pushed past Tig, stalking out into the night.

"Tig." Jax nodded at the window. "Go after him brother." Tig nodded back and headed after Happy.

Chibs turned his gun towards their prisoners as Ashleigh sighed and packed the pieces of Crash carefully back into her rucksack. She re-clipped her knife to her belt and wiped the tool Happy had used on the dead man's jacket before putting it back into its pocket, fastening the roll and tucking that into her bag with everything else. She pulled her rucksack on before picking up her gun. The three of them backed out into the night keeping their weapons aimed at the two men still living amongst the bloody carnage until they were out of sight. Ashleigh led them back to the gate, which was swinging open following Tig and Happy's exit.

They walked out onto the road to see Tig and Happy's bikes were missing.

"How did you trace this back to the Natsuki?" Jax asked, knowing half the answer.

"I called in a favour from an old friend." Ashleigh replied as Chibs mounted his bike. "I'm parked down the hill."

Chibs set off. "I'll give you a lift to your car." Jax nodded at his bike. Ashleigh waited for him to settle himself before getting on behind him.

Before he gunned the engine he turned to her. "How did you meet your friend?"

"I've done work for the Galindo cartel pro bono for years. I don't know if you've noticed but both Texas and California have the death penalty and I don't confine my activities to the US. It's no bad thing to have the CIA owe you some favours."

"You know about them?" Jax asked, shocked.

"Yeah, an' I know you do too."

"You're dad was right, you make some strange friends." Jax shook his head before setting off down the hill. He found Chibs at the bottom of the slope waiting by Ashleigh's car, where she'd parked it off the road, concealed from oncoming traffic by shadowy bushes.

"I guess Hap's real pissed at me." Ashleigh sighed as she swung herself off Jax's bike.

"He is." Was all Jax was going to give her on that.

"I'm gonna set off for Texas tomorrow." Ashleigh leaned both hands against the roof of the car and let her head drop as a wave of fatigue and nausea washed over her, before pushing away and opening the door.

"Go find him." Chibs advised gently. "Lad's been worried about ye. Doona be fuckin' stubborn. Ye've something special, doona let it slip away. But yer goin' tae have tae explain Pope tae him. An' you're no' off the hook with us just yet either lass."

Ashleigh closed her eyes and just nodded tiredly before slipping into her car and following the two bikers back to Charming.


	17. Chapter 17

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 17:**

Ashleigh debated following Chibs' advice, but decided against having a showdown with her husband at the club house with all his brothers around him. Exhaustion was beginning to claim her and her chest was throbbing from the impact of the bullets, the pain beginning to radiate into the muscles of her left arm.

She parked her car in the empty drive way of their home. Dragging her bag from the passenger seat, she slid out of the car and stumbled up to the door. She hauled herself up the stairs and dumped her bag on the desk in her office. She started a bath running before returning to her rucksack. She extracted the bundle that contained what was left of her friend and took it into the kitchen where she transferred the hand and folded skin into a small plastic bag before putting them in the back of the freezer. She took off her leather jacket and slipped off the remains of the t-shirt that Happy had ripped, throwing both it and the one that she'd wrapped her gruesome cargo in into the bin outside the house.

Wearing only the sheaths on her arms and her bullet proof vest with her jeans, she climbed the stairs again. Removing the sheaths she laid them with her jacket on the desk next to her bag. She dug for her phone and made a quick call to her 'Uncle' Kenny, giving him the address in Santa Cruz and information on the number of bodies and their locations. Dog-tired as she was, she didn't want anyone coming across the house, containing scenes that were straight out of a slasher movie, and calling the police.

Returning to the bathroom, she added scented bath foam to the water before stripping out of her Kevlar, jeans, boots and underwear. She examined the ugly red mark on her chest that was slowly melting into shades of blue, black and purple. It covered most of her left breast and extended over her collar bone and shoulder. She was bruised but nothing was broken thanks to the fact that he'd used a small calibre gun and that her parents had given her excellent quality body armour. The bastard had been aiming for her heart.

She turned the water off and slipped into the bubbles in the mist shrouded room. She submersed herself under the water, holding her breath until her lungs hurt, allowing the heat to sink into her weary body before she rose, wiping the streaming water out of her eyes and running her hands over the wet ropes of her hair.

When she opened her eyes and looked up she found Happy watching her. She watched his eyes harden with anger as he took in the bruise, just visible over the clouds of bubbles. She couldn't tell whether the anger was directed at her or the man who'd shot her, probably both.

"How can I trust you?" He grated.

Ashleigh leaned back, wondering how best to answer that question and wishing that she didn't have to look up at him from such a prone position as they had this conversation. At least it looked like wherever he'd been, it hadn't involved alcohol. Small mercies and all that.

"You went against the club, against me. Put yourself in danger. An' all for another man."

"He was my friend. My brother." Ashleigh sighed. She wasn't in danger of crying, she was too worn out, mentally and physically. "I love you Happy." She said meeting his gaze. "I'm yours. But I couldn't let you do it. Would you have been alright with killing my family and findin' out later it was a mistake?"

"And Pope?"

She took a deep breath and exhaled. "I didn't just drop on this earth when you arrived in Texas. You're goin' to have to deal with that. You're not as pure as the driven snow either."

"When?"

She sank deeper into the water and leaned her head back against the edge of the bath. "After I split with Crash I came to California on a job that Pope had commissioned. It took me a while to find my way back home."

"Two years?"

"Yeah, I was with him for two years." She was determined not to break his gaze.

"Your dad said you were ...changed when you got back." Happy's voice was toneless.

"Hap, I don't want to talk about this now. Sometime maybe, but that time was….rough. He wasn't good for me. If I hadn't needed to make sure you didn't look at him for this I wouldn't have brought it up at all."

"We're goin' to have to deal with this at some point. Said he had interestin' plans for us."

"Yeah." She shrugged. "He probably does. His plans won't be interestin' though, they'll be evil an' twisted. I don't want to deal with that tonight."

Happy stalked out of the bathroom. Ashleigh finally closed her eyes, welcoming the darkness as the heat seeped out of the water. She stood and pulled the plug out, hearing the water gurgle as it escaped. She secured a large towel around herself and used a smaller towel to blot enough of the water from her hair so that it wouldn't drip too much. She padded into her office and started emptying her rucksack. She transferred the sheaths directly into the safe, having left the knives buried in their targets in Santa Cruz. She put her gun to one side along with her kukri knife; she'd clean them in the morning. She unzipped all the pockets of the bag, putting items in piles depending on what needed doing to them or which room they needed to be returned to. The spot between her shoulder blades twitched and she turned to find Happy watching her from the doorway.

"What about Rose? You promised you wouldn't be reckless. Were you goin' to leave her without a mother?"

"I fully intended on tryin' to come back alive Hap."

Happy stepped forward and grabbed a fistful of her hair turning her towards him and yanking her against his body. Ashleigh fought her instincts to stay relaxed knowing that he often masked his feelings with aggression, especially when he was feeling vulnerable.

"Do I have to fuckin' spell it out for you?" He breathed harshly just above her lips, his eyes blazing.

"No. I know." She breathed, slowly raising her hand and tracing her fingers along his stubbled jaw.

His kiss obliterated her senses. He pulled her even closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck, running her hands over his shaved skull, arching into him as if she'd climb through him. He wrapped his muscled arms around her, crushing her to him. It seemed to go on forever, but eventually they both had to come up for air, gasping as they rested their foreheads together.

Happy cradled her head with his hand, drawing her against his chest as he held her tightly to him, savouring the feeling of her warm and alive in his arms. She didn't need to hear words to know that he was telling her in his way that he loved her, that he'd been scared that he'd lost her.

Ashleigh felt him tense and pulled her head back, looking up to see him shooting a puzzled look at something over her shoulder. She turned in his embrace to follow his line of sight, but couldn't see what had caused his consternation. One arm still wrapped tightly around her, he reached for something with his other hand. He held up the pregnancy test that he'd pulled out of the pocket of her rucksack.

"What's this?"

"What does it look like?" She whispered, wondering what his reaction would be.

"I guess you didn't keep it 'cause it was negative." She saw the fury build in his eyes again, but it was the pain she saw there too that made her heart stutter.

"I'm sorry. You're right." She held his face in both of her hands. "I risked too much."

He pressed her to him again, enveloping her in his arms. "How long?" He asked his voice slightly choked.

"Almost two months I think." Ashleigh whispered.

He leaned back and ran his fingers over the growing bruise on her chest, even that light touch caused her to wince.

"I won't ask you to give it all up again." He said, his voice strained.

"You don't have to. I don't think I'm goin' to have much time for work with two kids to look after." She looked at him defiantly. "I won't give it up completely though. I like what I do and you like that I do it, that we're equals that way. If I was an average woman who didn't know how to kill, maim and torture, and how to enjoy it, you wouldn't be here."

Happy had to concede defeat on that point. He kissed her again, tenderly this time running his hands over her back, nudging the towel down with each pass over her shoulder blades, gently caressing the skin underneath as he nipped a tingling path down her neck. He picked her up and carried her into their bedroom, laying her on the bed. She registered out of the corner of one eye that he must have tidied up when he'd left her in the bathroom probably attempting to calm down. She met his bone-melting stare as he pulled the towel completely from her before undressing himself and following her down onto the bed. The heat of their skin scorched where they touched, their kisses seared as they fell. They branded each other with fingers, lips, tongues, teeth and nails. The world outside ceased to exist for both of them.


	18. Chapter 18

_**All characters, etc from Sons of Anarchy belong to Kurt Sutter. **_

_**The OC's are mine.**_

_**Any mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out but please be nice**_

**CHAPTER 18:**

"Daddy!"

Rose hurled herself out of the front door and into her father's arms before he'd even managed to get off his bike. He swung her up and set her in front of him, pulling her into a tight hug. The little girl didn't complain, she just snuggled in closer, loving the scent of leather, cigarettes and motorcycle that was her daddy. Happy buried his face in her incredibly soft curly hair feeling the small arms attempt to wrap around his torso under his cut.

Moira was stood in the doorway smiling widely; when they'd heard the bike engines she'd barely managed to get the door open in time for the little girl to hurtle through it. It was way past the little girl's bedtime, but knowing that the party would be arriving at some point before midnight she hadn't had the heart to force the child to go to bed, allowing her to cat nap on the sofa instead.

Ashleigh got out of her Mercedes and stretched. After fourteen hours behind the wheel her shoulder was burning. The bruise underneath her Smurf t-shirt had developed and was now a hideously full palette of blues, greens, yellows and purples. Not that she'd gotten any sympathy from her husband, even though he'd flinched when he'd seen it in the morning light he'd simply grunted, "Serves you right."

Since Rose wasn't planning on letting go of her daddy anytime soon, Ashleigh walked around to the back of the car and opened the boot. She was a brave woman but she would have loved to delay facing her parents' wrath. She watched Jax get off his bike, leaving his helmet on the handle bars, and walk over to greet her father who had appeared in the doorway beside his wife and was smiling at the sight of his granddaughter and son-in-law.

Ashleigh followed Jax with the cooler and the small suitcase that she had pulled from the depths of the car. Samuel had turned and was leading Jax into the house. She didn't delude herself into thinking she'd get the silent treatment for long though.

When she got to the door she put her luggage down and hugged her mother tightly, stifling a grimace at the pain in her chest as her mother squeezed her tightly.

"I'm glad you made it home baby girl." Moira murmured.

"Me too momma." Ashleigh murmured back. "Thanks to the present you and daddy got me for Christmas."

She turned at the sound of childish chatter and found Happy carrying Rose over, their little monkey firmly tucked on his hip and determinedly babbling on about everything she'd done in the five days since she'd last seen him.

Ashleigh picked up the case and the cooler and followed her mother into the kitchen where Samuel was chatting to Jax about the journey and getting beers out of the fridge.

When Ashleigh put the cooler on the counter, all conversation ceased.

"Is that all?" Samuel asked in a deadened voice.

Ashleigh took a deep breath before answering. "Yeah, I couldn't get all of him. Uncle Kenny said what he found wasn't in any fit state to bring back. I would've brought it sooner but there's no way we could've got it on a plane. I needed to check in with a doctor first too." She pulled the neck of her t-shirt down to show the edges of the violent bruise. Moira gasped her hand flying to her open mouth. Samuel's face turned to stone. Happy had turned Rose away and was distracting her with talk of cookies.

"Even with the Kevlar?" Moira finally managed.

"Yeah. It wasn't point blank, but it wasn't far off. If it had been anything bigger than a .22 I'd have some cracked, probably broken ribs." Ashleigh would have shrugged but over the past couple of days she'd found that the motion hurt too much.

Samuel turned to Jax. "I sure appreciate you bringin' our brother's bike back son. How are you getting' home? I know you're not goin' to be lettin' Ashleigh drive."

Ashleigh huffed at her father's slur on her driving.

Jax grinned. "Apparently I'm bringing Ash's bike back for her. I might swap her for the cage though. Depends which one of her toys she wants to give up least."

"The car. Definitely the car, since that's where Rose'll be." Ashleigh said planting her hands on her hips, much to her parent's amusement.

"Come on honey." Moira moved forward. "And you Rosie. It's time you went to bed." She reached to take the little girl from her father's arms. "I bet you're dying for a shower honey, and I know Sam wasn't a quick word with the boys."

Ashleigh allowed Moira to carry Rose, not trusting her own tired arms with the sturdy toddler. She followed her mother out of the kitchen as her father, brother and husband seated themselves around the kitchen table with their cold beers. The low sound of Jax and Happy filling her father in on exactly what had happened followed her down the hall.

-o0o-

Early the next morning Jax, Happy and Ashleigh followed Samuel to the Lone Star club house. The chapel was crowded, but silent as the small party entered. Samuel took his place at the head of the table. He placed his hands on the arms of the leather chair, sitting up straight as he looked at each of the men seated at the table. "It's as we thought. Our brother is dead."

Some heads dropped, some muttered curses, some muttered prayers.

"We know for sure?" Terry asked. Having been like an uncle to Crash and his sponsor as a prospect he felt he had to ask.

Samuel nodded at Ashleigh. She placed the cooler on the table and opened it. She removed Crash's cut and spread it reverently on the table. Then she removed the hand and the piece of skin and laid them on top of it, smoothing the tattoo out so that it was fully visible.

"That's all?" Terry choked.

"It's all I could carry." Ashleigh said quietly.

Jax stepped forward. "The Sons apologise for lookin' your way for this. I'm sure Samuel's told you that it was the Yakuza. They've got a grudge against us and a Vendetta against Ashleigh."

Jax knew that the Sons of Anarchy were too strong an outfit to be made to look weak by offering apologies where they were due. Given the strength of Lone Star MC, which only had marginally fewer charters than SAMCRO, it was important that good relations were maintained. He deliberately hadn't referred to Ashleigh's relationship with either club; if she was going to ignore protocol then she was going to have to stand alone for her actions on this.

Samuel answered for his club. "We understand. The evidence pointed this way. We're glad you got it all straightened out."

Jax sighed. "Yeah well we're not out of the woods yet. They took against us over a nixed property deal. They won't ignore the fact that we killed a few of 'em."

Samuel smiled without humour. "They took one of our brothers. We'll make them pay for that. If they give you any trouble, please call us. We'll only be too happy to help."

Jax nodded his thanks.

Samuel signalled to Ashleigh to repack the remains, before standing. The room emptied, each member heading for their bike. Jax had ridden Crash's bike to the clubhouse and had left it parked at the bottom of the steps. Each of the Lone Star members touched it as they passed it. Jax got into the Mercedes with Ashleigh, and with Happy following them, they followed the convoy to Calm Waters, the local funeral home.

Samuel, Terry Dizzy and Ashleigh followed the manager through the public areas to the crematorium itself. As a long time friend of the club he had everything ready and waiting for them. Ashleigh gave the hand and the tattoo to her father, who placed them carefully into the furnace.

They left a short time later with a small urn containing the ash that had been their friend and brother. They travelled to the small graveyard where generations of Crash's family had been buried. His mother was already there, standing by the small hole that had been dug into the family plot. Moira was by her side, Rose at her knee solemnly clutching her hand.

The convoy of club members, silent except for the roar of their bike engines wound through the cemetery to the graveside. Crash's mother began to weep quietly as Samuel placed the urn into the grave, covering it with the cut that Ashleigh handed him. Terry and Dizzy used the shovels that had been left by the side of the grave to replace the dirt and covered the mound with the length of fake grass that had been provided. Crash's mother stepped forward and placed a single yellow rose onto the grave.

There was no minister. Crash had never been much of a believer. Samuel led the procession of members, stepping up the grave and murmuring "Goodbye brother," before returning to his bike. It took some time for all the members to say their farewells. Eventually, Moira was able to guide Crash's mother away from the grave, leaving Rose with her father.

As they passed Ashleigh, Crash's mother stopped and hugged her. "Thank you for bringin' my boy back to me." She said tearfully. Ashleigh hugged her back knowing that she wasn't just referring to the fact that Ashleigh had brought her something, however small, to bury.

Ashleigh heard the revving engines of the fleet of bikes as they left, headed back to the clubhouse for the wake. She stood and looked down at the grave of the man who'd been her friend since they were Rose's age. She was angry at the waste of life, angry that someone who'd worked so hard to become whole again had been taken for something so senseless, angry at how little of him she'd been able to return to his family. She let her tears fall silently as she remembered the life they'd shared from kindergarten, through school and beyond.

After a while she felt Happy's warm hand squeeze her unharmed shoulder. She brushed her tears away with the back of her hands and turned, as he slipped his arm around her, and walked with him back to her car and his bike where Jax was waiting with Rose.

"Crash isn't coming back momma is he?" Rose asked sadly.

"No honey, he's gone to be one of the stars in the sky." Ashleigh said, crouching down and gently sweeping a loose curl from the little girl's forehead.

"I'm gonna miss him." Rose said looking at her mother with tears in her eyes.

"I know honey. We all are." Ashleigh hugged her daughter. Crash's attention problems had meant that he was probably the only person in the club house that never got tired around the lively toddler, since he had usually changed whichever activity they were doing before she got bored.

"Don't cry baby. We'll go and see Nanna and Gramps now and tonight, when it's dark, I'll show you which star is Crash. Tomorrow we'll set off home. Nanna Gemma's missed you lots and lots honey. She can't wait to give you a big hug."

Rose nodded without speaking. Ashleigh got her settled in the car and the four of them made their way to the clubhouse to join the rest of the Lone Star family to celebrate a life and to say goodbye.

-o0o-

Ashleigh had set out at dawn that morning to retrieve her various pieces of equipment and her bike. It had still been early enough when she returned for her to steal a quiet conversation with her parents before everyone else woke up and descended on the kitchen for breakfast.

It took three days to make the journey back to Charming. After the first leg of the journey, Ashleigh let Jax drive the Mercedes whilst she rode the Ducatti. Although he appreciated the power and responsive handling of the bike, he hated the crouched position required to ride it at the speed Ashleigh was setting in the car.

Happy had enjoyed being able to share the road with his wife, but he'd been less pleased with speeds that she pushed her bike to and the way she almost laid it on it's side as she took corners, her leather-clad knees barely skimming the tarmac.

Rose had pouted abut not being allowed to ride on momma's pretty red bike. Ashleigh had said she could ride it when she was big enough. Happy had growled that she was never going to be big enough and she was never going to be allowed to ride it the way her momma did.

-o0o-

It was late on the third day when they pulled into the lot of Teller-Morrow. Having been called by Jax ahead of time, Gemma was waiting. She walked over to Ashleigh as she was pulled her helmet off and stretched out.

The two women embraced. Both were thankful to be able to do so. Ashleigh knew that, out of everyone connected to her, Gemma would understand best why she had done what she had. "Thank you for keeping my boys safe." Gemma whispered before pulling back and saying sternly, "but don't you ever pull that stupid fuckin' shit again baby. I only just found you. I ain't ready to bury you yet."

Ashleigh couldn't respond because Jax had released Rose from the car and the little girl rushed up to Gemma to give her a hug shouting "Nanna Gemma, I missed you."

Gemma swung Rose up and spun her around. "Heya monkey. Did you like Uncle Jax's driving?"

Rose nodded enthusiastically. "He doesn't drive as fast as momma but he knows all the words to the songs on my CD."

"Rat." Jax murmured by her small ear, smiling as he walked into the clubhouse.

Leaving Rose with Gemma Ashleigh followed Jax and Happy into the chapel. The Sons were already seated and waiting. Ashleigh knew she had to face the music. She felt like the kid who'd misbehaved at school and having been shouted at by the class teacher now found herself in the principal's office. She tried to remember that she had to keep her temper in check as she stood next to where Happy sat in his chair.

Jax leaned back in his seat. "Well, you were right and it all worked out in the end. I gotta ask, do you actually have a death wish?"

Ashleigh shrugged painfully. "No. I've probably got overconfidence issues though. On a serious note, you need to keep an eye on Hale. He knew the Yakuza were backin' the Natsuki. He was aimin' for them to get you guys out of Charming eventually."

"We still need to talk about Pope too." Jax reminded her.

"I know. I'll fill you in on that, some other time." She glanced quickly around room making it plain that she was not going to divulge that information in front of a large audience.

Jax sighed. "I guess there's no point in tellin' you to do what you're told next time?"

"There won't be a next time Jax. I'm goin' to have my hands too full to be running off playin' Lone Ranger."

"Why you got something planned?" Jax asked.

Ashleigh looked down at Happy. There was no mistaking the look of pride on his face as he put a hand around her hips and she put one hand on his shoulder. She looked back up at Jax. "It looks like your gonna have another little killa runnin' around in about seven months."

She laughed at Jax's dropped jaw.

Tig snickered at Happy. "Shit man! I knew karma was gonna catch up with you one of these days. My money's on twin girls!"

"Don't be so smart about it." Happy grinned back. "You might actually cop for some babysitting duties Grandpa."

Everyone had to laugh at the look of horror on Tig's face.

_**The End**_

…_**.for now!**_

_**Thank you to everyone for your favourites, follows, reviews and messages.**_

_**I'm sketching ideas for the next sequel, if there's any questions you want answered or things you'd like to see happen, let me know and I'll see what I can work in.**_

_**(Special thanks to Leon's Angel, Simone Santos, crazygirl1980, otte1978 and Amanda. Your support meant a lot!)**_


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